EPBOT Readers discussion

Hello everyone,

It has been pretty quiet on these posts the last several weeks. I hope everyone is doing well. This time of year can be very busy with the school year and other activities coming to an end. I hope you're all finding me-time to read whatever you want and need in your life right now.

I finished both my books this week. On Kindle I finished If Tomorrow Never Comes. I liked this pretty well. 4 stars. It had smart characters that were interesting and no stupid romance trope issues.

I also finished listening to The Briar Club for neighborhood book club next week. I really liked this. I rated it 5-stars. It was only in the audiobook Q&A with the author that I realized she (Kate Quinn) also wrote another book club book we read a while ago, The Alice Network. That was my first book ever upon joining the book club actually. I liked Briar Club better.

I don't know what my next audiobook will be yet. I still have a couple minutes of historical info left and no idea what to move to. Perhaps I'll wait until the book club meeting.

I started a paperback romance from my sister Welcome to Harmony. It is just filler at the moment.

QOTW:
Do you feel like a leader or a follower?

This is actually a difficult one for me. I feel like I have the abilities to be a leader. I seem to have good ideas and have been successful in that sort of role. But my introverted personality makes me want to avoid being seen or the focus of attention. It was easier to be a leader with, say, my daughter's Girl Scout troop and that sort of forum.

Before I retired, I most enjoyed solving hard problems, not leading people (I actively avoided all management type roles) and I was not the "grand vision" type but the type to dig in and figure out why the system is broken.

Thanks to Susan, Rebecca, and Jen for keeping up the conversation! I have been lurking but not posting.
I am excited to be ahead of schedule for my annual goals, mostly thanks to reading a bunch on a trip to Iceland last month.
I've been doing a reread of Murderbot to prep for the series starting today on Apple TV. Trailer looked promising.
Two releases by favorite authors I enjoyed were When the Moon Hits Your Eye byJohn Scalzi (mostly funny but had some sad parts) and Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn (nice followup to the first one.)
I also very much enjoyed Part of Your World and The Fall Riskby Abby Jimenez. It's kindof startling how well she does romance books that go beyond the tropes with interesting characters and situations.
I'm slowly rereading part of the Amelia Peabody series for my BNWNSC set of 5 related book prompts.
Two books by new authors I really liked were The Wishing Game and Dungeon Crawler Carl. Wishing Game, though an adult book, gave me vibes from different childhood favorites (like books from Elizabeth Enright). And Dungeon Crawler Carl was very funny for a book about the end of the world, happy there are more in the series. Those are the highlights of my reading year so far.

Susan, thank you for helping lead our group if this is not your thing. I am definitely a leadership person, both at work and as a volunteer. I had the bad habit of volunteering to lead a bunch of things because it was frustrating to seeing them being run poorly. After being a scout leader and uniform mom, I am excited to just be a worker bee at my new volunteer gig and not in a leadership role.

Hello! I think I missed last week. Work has gotten a bit busier for me lately.

Finished:
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry - 3.5 stars - for a favorite prompt from the 2015 Popsugar Reading Challenge: female author. I didn't like this as much as I have other Emily Henry books, but it was still enjoyable. I felt like too much time was spent on the life of the woman they were interviewing, and I figured out what was happening before the ending reveal. Still decent, just not where I'd start with Emily Henry.

Comics & manga:
The King's Beast, Vol. 15

Currently reading:
A Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathrall - I tentatively have this slotted for Popsugar's unlikely friendship prompt, since there's the friendships from the first book between the male and female lead, as well as their siblings.

Upcoming/Planned:
Overgrowth by Mira Grant - for Popsugar's author who is neurodivergent

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - for Popsugar's activity on your bucket list (more accurately, a location I'd love to visit)

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh - I have this tentatively down for Popsugar's nontraditional education, since it takes place at a magic school.

QOTW:
I am definitely not a leader. Although I'm happy to do the admin work side of it, I hate the dealing with people part.

We're about to go visit the in-laws and try the kayak near, but not in, the sea.

The Birding Dictionary - I preordered this because I love Rosemary Mosco and there was a free button offer I couldn't resist. I did learn a few terms, but mostly it's good for the jokes and cute art. It's probably only fun for someone interested in birding, but it would be suitable for a beginner.

QOTW: I make an excellent underling.