EPBOT Readers discussion

Hello everyone,

I'm getting this out because I leave tomorrow for a vacation. We'll be on a schooner (30 passengers, 8 crew) for a week (without a laptop) sailing around coastal Maine. This is our 8th time on this ship. But next check in will be a two-week one unless someone else wants to create it.

I only have one finish this week and it was a short story, Natural Selection: A Short Story. This was okay to me. It was a freebie from the per-month free kindle book from Amazon Prime. I like Elin Hilderbrand's style well enough.

I am deep into Malibu Rising. I am listening to it and have 2.5 out of 11 hours left so lots of things are happening right now. This book has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. I am enjoying it. It started a bit slow for me, but now so much is happening, so fast. But it is all believable for the most part. I'm not quite sure where this journey is going to end but it feels like a train wreck that you cannot look away from.

I have my kindle loaded and ready to read on the ship during relaxing sailing days. I have my earbuds charged in case I want to listen instead of visually reading.

QOTW:
What is a book that you often find yourself thinking about?

I oscillate between recency bias, thinking about books I've recently read and various non-fiction books I've read that relate to the real world.

But there are times when I'm outside, on a hike, or in the woods and I think about The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World. Or sometimes I'll think about some of the Mary Roach biology related books I've read if something related happens in life.

Happy Thursday!

Ooh, that trip sounds like fun, Susan. I hope you enjoy yourself!

Finished:
The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 4 by Natsu Hyuuga - 4.5 stars - Big things are happening.

Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis - 4.5 stars - for Popsugar's book set in space. I loved this and can't wait for the next one.

Comics & manga:
Chihayafuru, Vol. 1
Chihayafuru, Vol. 2
Tamon's B-Side Vol. 3

Currently reading:
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily  Hamilton - Not currently for a prompt. Between this and Crash Landing which I just finished, we're clearly in the space heist portion of my yearly reading. Purely by coincidence.

The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 5 by Natsu Hyuuga - not for a prompt. These are like candy - easy to read, and I just can't stop.

Upcoming/Planned:
Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff - for Popsugar's book that was published 24 years ago (2000) and Robot Librarian's book about/taking place during a war that is not WWI or WWII. I know I read this back when it first came out but it's been so long I barely remember it.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - for Popsugar's book that was turned into a musical and Robot Librarian's book that has been adapted into a TV show or streaming series.

QOTW:
I'm similar, in that I think most often about things I've finished recently, but then I also have some favorite series and books that I think about frequently.

Enjoy Maine, Susan! I love it up there.

Just one read for me this week, as my kids just came home from camp and life is hectic again: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. I can see why it's gotten so much buzz, I really loved it. I saw all of the twists coming, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. Definitely recommended!

QotW: Mostly I'm the same way, but sometimes something will remind me of an old favorite (which generally results in my digging up the old favorite to read again).

I am going to my niblings' 2nd birthday party, which is like sailing around Maine except in every possible way.

The Invisible Universe: Why There's More to Reality than Meets the Eye - So this was good but I was disappointed that it was mostly about parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that are not detectable by the human eye, with chapters for infrared and radio observations, and then only one chapter each for gravitational wave observation, dark matter, and dark energy. The author does admit that these are basically two different types of invisibility, and I was hoping for more of the latter, and I think it would have bothered me less if I'd known upfront that was how it would be, but I felt like I was just waiting to get to the really invisible stuff.

Bathe the Cat - In this picture book, a family is trying to get the house ready for Grandma's visit, but the cat doesn't like the titular task and rearranges the refrigerator-magnet chore list, causing them to do absurd things like feed the floor and mop the fishes. That's all well and good, and probably amusing to children, but the real bonus is the family, which is multiracial and has two dads. It's not called out explicitly in the text, but there are rainbow and trans pride flag magnets on the fridge, a child's drawing of dad and daddy, two brown kids and a white one, earrings and nail polish on the dads, etc. Definitely recommended for a fun story with good representation.

QOTW: The Olympics in all those Belle Époque Parisian venues got me rereading Chéri again. Sometimes the smell of honeysuckle calls up The Sound and the Fury. I'm sure I do this all the time with nonfiction but I can't think of one at the moment.