Week 1: 1/1 - 1/8 > Likes and Comments
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Happy Thursday all.I'm sore this week, haha... trying to get back into exercise after putting it on pause while recovering from surgery. I might have overdone it the first few days...
Books read this week:
Toro -- for “book with a mention of your zodiac sign.” Short and a little clunky, but still an entertaining story about a cow who dreams of participating in the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich -- for “sapphic comic.” Super cute and full of humor. Full of anachronisms (somehow we have Nintendo Switch consoles in a world where people still travel by horse-drawn carriage) but somehow it works.
The Tail of Emily Windsnap -- for “book about an underwater civilization.” Definitely for younger readers, but still a cute read about a girl discovering her father was a mermaid… and that she becomes one whenever she swims. I’m sure later books get more in-depth about the mermaid civilization (though we do visit it in this book), but I’m okay with stopping here.
Below -- for “travel ghost story.” Kudos for using Mothman, one of my favorite cryptids, and for trying to be an empowering story for its female protagonist. Too bad it’s so disjointed and doesn’t answer any of the many questions it raises… At least it was short.
DNF:
This Poison Heart -- I really wanted to like this one… but three chapters in I’m already tired of the main character griping and her powers are inconsistent. If it’s been established that she’s immune to poisonous plants, why is she shocked that she survived having plant poison in her bloodstream?
The Thursday Murder Club - just was not getting into it. Dunno if it’s the writing style or the fact that there are way too many characters, but I’m not enjoying this. Which is a shame, because it could have filled a really tricky prompt…
Currently reading:
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop -- for “book about new beginnings”
The Spellshop -- for “book where gardening or a garden are central to the plot”
Fool on the Hill - for “a book about college”
Salt and Sugar -- for “a book with “pop” or “sugar” in the title
PopSugar Challenge -- 4/50
Extreme Book Nerd Challenge -- 1/50
QOTW:
I finished two reading challenges last year, so I'm pretty happy with how I met my goals. Goals this year are pretty much unchanged -- PopSugar, Extreme Book Nerd, and shoot for about 150 books read this year. (I managed over 200 last year, if you include graphic novels...)
Kenya wrote: "The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich -- for “sapphic comic.” ..."omg it's been so long since I've had a grilled cheese sandwich. I haven't had breakfast yet so I'm hungry and all I can think about is a grilled cheese sandwich. Maybe that's what's for lunch today!! I think I can find some cheese in the fridge. If not, I know what I'm buying at the grocery store this weekend!!
Happy Thursday! Still hanging out in New Mexico with my husband Todd. I'll be returning to Washington on Sunday. It may be a difficult transition... we've been having highs in the upper 60s/low 70s this past week and, when Todd's at work, I'm the only one here. It's very, very quiet. Ah well, soon I'll have to head back to reality! It's been a nice respite.Reading Challenges:
52 Book Club: 5/52
ATY: 4/52 (ATY Winter Challenge: 1/14)
Booklist Queen: 3/52
Popsugar: 2/50
Goodreads Winter Bookmarks: 3/12
My Ever-Growing TBR: 4/228 – 1.8% (My goal is to read 1/3 of my TBR. Every book I purchase, win, or am gifted is added to my TBR.)
Recently Completed:
❄️ Babylonia (52 Books #1 – set in an ancient civilization/ATY #13 – an author’s second book) ★★★★
❄️ The Truth About Love and Dukes, Dear Lady Truelove, #1 (ATY Winter Challenge – My true love gave to me…/Bookmarks #1 – Page Turner) ★★★★
❄️ The Accidental Favorite (Booklist Queen #1 – meant to read last year/Popsugar #3 – meant to read last year/Bookmarks #2 – Speed Reader) ★★★
❄️ The Adults – Hulse (ATY #27 – a “vacation” book/Booklist Queen #42 – two books with similar titles #1) ★★
❄️ Totally and Completely Fine (ATY #12 – cover text is not black or white/Bookmarks #3 – Book Boss) ★★★★
❄️ Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West: Goodreads Giveaway. (52 Books #9 – features a natural disaster/ATY #27 – a nonfiction book) ★★★★★
❄️ Bloom (52 Books #40 – author’s first and last name have the same initial/Popsugar #1 – gardening is central to the plot) ★★★★
❄️ Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic: Atheists in American Public Life (52 Books #8 – three-syllable word in title/Booklist Queen #24 – a book by two authors) ★★★★
QOTW: I haven't really changed my reading goals much. I decided not to participate in any of the Book Girls' Guide challenges this year. The choices get really repetitive, and I've already read many of the choices. I've also gotten really involved with The Lost Challenges which is another group on this site that does smaller monthly, quarterly, annual, and open-ended challenges.
Happy Thursday! I am 9/50. I started with a lot of short and easy books, but I also had a lot of holds all come available at one time, so I made excellent progress quickly.
This week I finished:
Tourist Season: Gardening prompt: I really enjoyed the Butcher and Blackbird series, and this one was fine, but I didn't like it as much. I'll still read the next one when in comes out though.
Zoo 2: Book that starts with a Z: I read the first one a long time ago, when I was still a die-hard James Patterson fan and I remembered liking it just fine. I HATED this book completely. If it hadn't been an extremely short audiobook, I would have found another book for this prompt after the opening chapter of this one. Alas, I suffered through it and I have no one to blame but myself for that.
Dancing through Space: Dr. Mae Jemison Soars to New Heights: women astronauts: Every year the challenge has a few prompts that I don't want to do, so I allow myself to do one reread, one comic, and one children's book to help with those prompts. This was my one children's book. I would highly recommend Atmosphere for this prompt, but I had just read it and didn't want to read it again. I, as a general rule, don't like reading about space. I find it deeply unsettling for reasons that I cannot explain, so I chose the kid's book for this one and it was cute and had great pictures.
Sleet Kitten: Winter Olympics prompt (Ice hockey): When in doubt, I'll do a quick sappy romance. This was exactly that. It wasn't great, but it was good enough that I read the second one for another prompt.
Sleet Sugar: Sugar in the title prompt: Same as above. I didn't like this one as much as the first one. I won't be reading number 3.
Legacy: Pilates prompt: In fairness, this book involved yoga more so than Pilates, but I felt there was some flexibility with this prompt. I really enjoyed this one. It was almost a 5 star for me, because it made me cry twice and I give extra points for that. It made me wonder why I don't read more Nora Roberts, so I'm going to remedy that.
The Bachelorette Party: bachelorette prompt: This one did not have great reviews, but I had already read a lot of the other books suggested for this prompt, so I gave it a go. I didn't think it was too bad. It was an extremely fast read, maybe 4 hours, and it was perfectly acceptable.
Mooncakes: Sapphic comic: This book delivered exactly what it was supposed to. Not my go to genre, but definitely was just fine and a quick read.
Evidence of the Affair: Entirely through letters: I am a sucker for Taylor Jenkins Read. This was very short. The audiobook quality was very good, and it was free on Kindle Unlimited, so it gets a thumbs up from me.
QOTW:
I am happy with my goals from last year, so I kept them the same for this year. I thought about increasing the number of books I want to read, because I significantly surpassed it last year, but I was also off on medical leave for 6 weeks, so I think that accounts for why I did so well.
My 2026 goals are to finish the PopSugar Challenge and to read 150 books. Side projects are to participate in my library's book club, but I'm off to a bad start, because I just can't get myself to read January's book. It is way too long for me.
Hello, y’all. We’re past the winter solstice, and now the days are getting longer. Yay! ‘Course it is a miniscule increasing day length…as sunset is still about 5:30p and bedtime remains around 7p per my body clock and Darla! Still, spring is around the corner, hopefully.
I thought that I had survived the winter cold that came with the holidays, but my cough is back as is a bit of sinus issues. Yuck!
Exercise continues twice a week, and I am still seeing changes: increasing strength and range of motion in my problematic L shoulder/arm, decreasing weight (down to about 142# from mid to high 150s), and improved balance. But, I am experiencing more regular shin splints in my L leg, sometimes necessitating use of a cane until I get up and about; although use of the cane has also nearly disappeared over the holidays.
Finished:
Five French Hens – ATY Seasonal, PS #21 (bachelorette trip) – 4* Oh, this was fun! The hen party was made up of older women who varied from single/never married, to widowed, to happily married...and everything in between and the effect of a week in Paris on each.
Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony - PAS, PS #21 (politician). 4* History of two important women in the fight for women's rights. I learned a lot and found a deep respect for these two women who lived in the 1800s.
Christmas Corpse – ATY Seasonal. Kindle. 4* Just a fun seasonal read.
Currently Reading:
The Dirt from Tripp Street: Everyday Lessons About Life-Love and Loss, Sadness and Joy, and All the In-Betweens – No prompts. 27%
Black Hotel: A Supernatural Thriller – Kindle. PAS. 16%. I really need to get this one going again.
The Violin Conspiracy – PS #31 (Music) and PS #3 (meant to read in 2025). 21%
Maggie Dove's Detective Agency – ATY Seasonal. Kindle. 6%
On Deck: (library)
The Personal Librarian – PS #24 (Happily single woman)
Bones of Betrayal - PAS
The White Dragon – ATY #38 (second book different genre)
(owned)
True Detectives – ATY# 52 (sunset vibes)
PS 1/50
ATY 0/52, Seasonal 2/14
GR 4/200
QotW: Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?
Am I happy with last year’s reading goal completions? No, but I am accepting of my performance. I did not complete any of my goals, not even the GR reading challenge. But, I am at peace with it all.
This year, I kept the GR reading challenge at 200. I reduced my reading groups to 3, which should help me complete more challenges. My reading amount has lessened over the past year and especially since I got Darla. And, I am OK with that also.
I had thought that I would be doing a reduced PS and ATY challenge as the prompts overall just did not interest me. Still, I was a bit surprised to find that during December, I planned a book for 49/52 of prompts for ATY and 49/50 for PS. And, those prompts not planned are ones that I should be able to find a book for during the year rather than the problematic ones that I so very much disliked. Go figure!
Nadine in NY wrote: "Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow, Lenny Lipton, & Éric Puybaret (Illustrator) - a picture book for the "based on a real song" category; all of the magic is in the original song, this art was bland and added nothing to the story. This was a disappointment.."My son heartily disagrees with you - we have the board book and he will demand multiple readings of it at bed time. He's two so his taste may be questionable, but they met the demands of the target audience lol.
Jackie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow, Lenny Lipton, & Éric Puybaret (Illustrator) - a picture book for the "based on a real song" category; all of the magic is in the origina..."Awww that's sweet!!!!
He's approaching it from a completely different perspective, of course, since he didn't know the song first. I'm glad he loves it. 🤍
Greetings all! Welcome to a new year of reading challenges. The kittens continue to create mayhem.Finished 4 books this week. I tend to start with short books so I can review them regularly on my obscure website.
Popsugar 4/50
52 book club 4/52
Booklist Queen 3/52
This Challenge Killed the Bookworm 3/25
Finished:
Exit Strategy from the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. For "Type C" character (PS), book from a series of 8+ (BQ), and artificial intelligence (52BC and TCKTBW). Love the voice.
Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit, for gardening (PS), title starting with"O" (52BC), and set in the spring (BQ). Part biography, part essay collection, but somehow it all connects.
Lysistrata by Aristophanes, for sexless marriage (PS), set in an ancient civilization (52BC), and a classic you haven't read (BQ). Still funny 2000 years later.
The Canterville Ghost and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde, for travel ghost story (PS), written in the 1800s (52BC), and cosy fantasy (TCKTBW). Title story reminds me a lot of Beetlejuice: the family refuses to take the ghost seriously. There was also the darkly funny "Lord Arthur Savile's crime." A fortune teller warns Lord Arthur he is destined to commit murder, so Arthur figures he'd better get it over with. But he is not very good at it.
Currently reading:
You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism, by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar. Will probably use this one for the curly hair prompt. The authors take some painful experiences and make them funny, always in a "punch up, not down" way.
Up next:
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, a queer YA romance by Mackenzi Lee.
QOTW: I retired last spring, so my reading time has skyrocketed. Finished the Popsugar challenge in early November, then discovered I only needed 5 more books to finish the Booklist Queen challenge.So, this year I am doing both, plus the 52 Book Club challenge and This Challenge Killed the Bookworm. I review the books on my website, and it's sort of tricky to know how to pace myself with four overlapping challenges, but I plan one or two reviews a week.
There's something weirdly satisfying about hitting 3 or 4 challenges with a single book.
Good morning, everyone! Happy Thursday!All of the hardware for my new closet system has been delivered, and the installation is supposed to happen tomorrow morning! I am really looking forward to actually having a functional master closet again, especially after having been without one for nearly a month. I’m not looking forward to the marathon cleaning session that will inevitably follow the install process, but it’s going to be really nice once everything is done.
This has been a pretty good reading week. I decided to start the year by focusing on reading the books I received as Christmas gifts, which has been a lot of fun so far. I am trying to balance my time a bit better when it comes to focusing on responsibilities vs. hobbies, so I haven’t finished nearly as many books as I did at this time last year, but that’s okay. I’m already feeling really good about the progress that I’m making on this year’s TBR list, and it’s been nice to take my time with the books I’m reading.
Here are my current challenge and TBR totals…
Goodreads Challenge: 4/250
Mount TBR Challenge: 3/150
📚Physical TBR: 2/462
📱Ebook TBR: 1/161
🎧Audiobook TBR: 0/1
TBR Checklist Total: 3/624 (0% complete)
TBR Books DNFed in 2026: 0
I did pick up a few new releases this week, including A War of Wyverns, by S.F. Williamson; Rings of Fate, by Melissa de la Cruz; and Otaku Vampire's Love Bite, Vol. 6, by Julietta Suzuki.
I had planned to also pick up Seanan McGuire’s newest Wayward Children book, but my local Barnes and Noble did not have it in stock. They currently have it on order for me though, so I will get a call as soon as it comes in.
“New” Books Bought in 2026: 3
“New” Books Read in 2026:
“New” Books DNFed in 2026:
“New” Books Checklist Total: 0/3
Here are the books I finished this week…
Finished Reading (Fiction):
~Darkly — This book was one of the ones I was most excited to receive for Christmas, and I ended up having mixed feelings about it. While I thought it was a good mystery, with an interesting plot and characters, it was not the fast-paced horror/thriller I’d expected it to be. It actually started out a bit slow, and it stayed that way for a significant amount of the story. Content Alert: (view spoiler) 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
~The Last Oracle — This is the fifth book in the Sigma Force series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! James Rollins’s books always do a great job of keeping my interest, and I had a hard time putting this one down. Content Alert: (view spoiler) 📱: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
~The Scroll of the Dead — This is the third book in the Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series. I received this book for Christmas, and really enjoyed it. Content Alert: (view spoiler) 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
~Nobody Wants Your Sh*t: The Art of Decluttering Before You Die — I thought this was a really good read! It focuses on a lot of the same ideas as The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, but really doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to telling you why you will benefit from getting rid of your excess stuff. Unfortunately, I now feel the need to get rid of about 90% of the things I own. 📱: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
None
Finished Reading (Poetry and Drama):
None
DNFed:
None
Currently Reading:
~NIV Audio Bible — This audiobook edition of The Bible is read by David Suchet. I currently have a little over 43 hours remaining. 🎧
~What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions — This book is actually a re-read for me, but this is the first time I’ve had a chance to read my own copy (which I received as a gift for Christmas). I’m really enjoying both the science and the absurdity of this book, and I’m already looking forward to diving into the sequel. 📚
~The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien: Three-Volume Box Set — I picked up this 3-volume box set of Tolkien’s poetry when it was released a couple of years ago. I haven’t had a chance to get very far into the first book, so I don’t really have an opinion of it yet, but I’m looking forward to spending more time with it over the weekend. 📚
~This Princess Kills Monsters — This is another book that I got for Christmas. I’m currently only five chapters into this one, but I’m really enjoying it so far. 📚
QOTW:
Overall, I would say that I’m very happy with how I completed my reading goals last year. I was able to complete 25% of my TBR, and managed to avoid adding any new titles to my TBR list for this year (apart from the books I was gifted for Christmas).
I have several reading goals for 2026, but the most important ones are almost exactly the same as last year’s. I want to complete at least 26% of my TBR list for the year, and not add any new titles to my TBR list (apart from Christmas gifts) for 2027.
The only major difference between this year’s goals and last year’s is that I want to spend a little less money on new book purchases, and use the library more effectively. The truth is that I am running out of room on my shelves, and I need to be more selective about which books I decide to own physically. But it would really help if Barnes and Noble would stop releasing such pretty special editions…
Hi everyone!!!Popsugar 2/50
I´m currently trying to get the most out of my mostly free 3 months suscription to Kinle Unlimited, really getting into manga and comics but still trying not to forget about this challenge.
The Wedding People Prompt 26: A book with a characther who navigates infertility. My first book of the year, I really liked it, it was funny and interesting and THE DRAMA. But I completly undertand that it may not be for everyone and I do agree it may be missing some trigger warnings. This book applys to a few prompts but for me this is the one that fits the bests and I also didn´t really wanted to dive so much into this topic in particular.
Attack on Titan, Vol. 1 Prompt 40: A book outside your comfort zone. This is one of the first Mangas I´ve ever read, very new to the anime world in general but really enjoying everything about it.
Laura Ruth wrote: "Lysistrata by Aristophanes, for sexless marriage (PS), set in an ancient civilization (52BC), and a classic you haven't read (BQ). Still funny 2000 years later."I read this play for the first time in a college theatre class and absolutely loved it! I didn't keep very many of my college books, but I did keep my collection of Aristophanes's plays, because Lysistrata makes me laugh so hard every time I read it.
K.L. wrote: "Laura Ruth wrote: "Lysistrata by Aristophanes, for sexless marriage (PS), set in an ancient civilization (52BC), and a classic you haven't read (BQ). Still funny 2000 years later."I read this pla..."
I saw a modernized musical version in my college days, but had never read or seen the original.
Getting back into work mode after two weeks off has been very difficult. Everything seems to be urgent and terribly important too, so my holiday calm lasted approximately one day! It's been all frosty and pretty here the past week, but a storm is rolling in now. A wet storm for us in the south of the UK. Finished:
Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong
Compelling mystery, but everyone comes off a bit too reasonable at times. Also I don't think I need to be reminded of everyone’s backstory so often. I feel like if she wasn’t self publishing now, these issues might’ve been ironed out. First book of the year and someone was confirmed as doing Pilates, so my winging it strategy is already paying off.
- ATY #42 A book set in an isolated location
- PS #20 A book with a character who does Pilates or Lagree
Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
I did not know roadrunners were so fierce. A cosy horror, though I hesitate to call it horror at all. There is one particularly creepy scene. Does not work for debt *grumbles about misleading blurb* but it had scorpions and a rooster so works for both my zodiac signs! Lots of birds in it too, so you could use it for “birding”.
- ATY #30 The most recently published book by an author
- PS #49 A book with a mention of your zodiac sign
- TCKtB #7 A book by T. Kingfisher
- 52BC #17 Author’s bio mentions their dog
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
Typical Hazelwood, I enjoy the story and characters but once the sex started I was happy for it to be over. Can’t say the setting made me want to jump on a plane to Italy, but it’ll do.
- ATY #29 A vacation book
- PS #35 A book that makes you want to travel to Italy
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
On one hand the robots and their desire to create good food after being slaves to a fast food chain was cute, but there was so much rammed into this novella that its metaphors got muddled. Equating being anti-AI with being a bigot is an odd approach in the current climate.
- PS #43 Two books written by real-life partners or spouses (1)
- 52BC #30 Author related to another author
- ATY #48 A book with something edible in the title
Currently reading The Tainted Cup and listening to Secrets of the First School.
QOTW:
Work got in the way of reading too often in 2025, and sometimes I just felt like playing games to de-stress. So I did not meet my reading goal (I've been setting it at 100 the past few years - I used to read so much more). Out of my prompt based challenges, I only completed ATY. I stopped tracking Popsugar at 25/50.
I’ve set my goal this year at one book a week. I’ll probably go way over but I don’t want to feel behind if I am busy or want to spend time doing other hobbies.
As for challenges, I'm doing four but being laid back about it, double dipping and stretching prompts. I usually end up dropping some mid year anyway.
Popsugar: 4/50
ATY: 4/50
This Challenge Killed the Bookworm: 1/25
52 Book Club: 2/52
PS: 11/4052: 13/52
52 Connections: 9/21
Anti-Capitalist: 13/30
Finished: Better Than We Found It: Conversations to Help Save the World Covered a lot of ground
Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize, and Move Forward with Your Life I don't know about this. His solution was to tell the stories to someone as you get rid of the objects that represent the stories. I feel like I need some more permanent way to capture the stories if I'm getting rid of things that have a lot of meaning.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Universe Loved this and learned a lot!
The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement about the Occupy movement
You Are the Future: Living the Questions with Rainer Maria Rilke This was only so-so
The Usual Path to Publication: 27 stories about 27 ways in I didn't find this super helpful. The only authors I recognized were Jo Walton and Ada Palmer.
Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights There were a lot of disturbing descriptions that I skipped over. Even so, after reading this, I felt less committed to veganism than more! But that had more to do with a conversation I had with my BIL than the book.
Started: Democratic Reason: Politics, Collective Intelligence, and the Rule of the Many This is a re-read. I only gave it 1.5 stars the first time. It's still not very good.
The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI Once I got past the prologue which is heavy on philosophy-speak, it becomes a much easier read.
QotW: So many goals! I got this flippy counter thing from my husband so even though I've never made a goal for how many books I'm going to read because I worry that will make me want to read shorter books, I now have a goal of reading 200 books this year!
I currently am trying to read books that I already have and not get any new books except for book club books and pre-orders I've already placed.
I am trying to write a book review after reading each book and before allowing myself to go onto to the next book.
I am trying to read/write at least a couple of hours each day on my Democracy Project.
Thank you, Nadine, for being so consistent with the QotW! It is something I look forward to each week.
It's been a tough week of work ramping back up and the little guy having an ear infection. He's doing better but the late night wake ups are just killing us. I'd love to siphon up some of his energy lol. Finished:
Floating Hotel: it was ok, but I didn't love it the way so many seem to
The Honjin Murders: a japanese locked room mystery that is very self-aware
QOTW: I'm pretty pleased with my reading last year - I finished the reading challenges I wanted to. I wish I had read more books but that almost goes without saying.
Hi all! Not too much going on around here. Next week I have something going on each day, so that'll feel hectic; I'm just trying to enjoy the quiet of this week. Kiddo is back at school, and she's not thrilled about it, but I'm glad to have the house to myself again. It's been "warm" (above freezing) here the last few days, so my yard is almost totally free of snow again! ETA: I just received a message that my propane delivery was skipped because my driveway is covered in ice. My entire property is 95% snow and ice free! My driveway is not at all covered! Am I flippin' cursed??? I just emailed them pictures. The message said they will try again by January 19th.... hope I don't run out by then. Twits.
Masked Singer started again last night! :D I have some very good guesses (though I always think that until I'm proved 1000% wrong! lol), but I didn't guess who was revealed, even though I totally should have. In my defense, I missed the clue section because I was getting kiddo settled in bed.
I finished Sick and Tired: An Intimate History of Fatigue last week. I found it very informative. I wish there was more about how to work for change, but as it was a history book, I get why that wasn't in there.
This week, I've mostly been reading Ziggy, Stardust and Me. It will work for several prompts! Other than Z title and song related, the MC is being raised (if you can call it that) by his dad, there's a hippie English teacher who has curly hair, and there's definitely plenty of teen angst. And that's only about a quarter of the way through the book!
I also listened to another chapter in The Bonfire of the Vanities. I dislike long chapters, especially when audiobooks start new tracks only on new chapters. Even worse, this last chapter was following the MC and then suddenly switched to totally new characters who had nothing to do with the MC in the middle of the chapter. Why not just start a new chapter then??
QOTW: I missed my GR goal of 35 books by 2, so I reset it at that. I do ATY and PS challenges, knowing full well that I won't finish them, but the hunt and the communities are really what it's about for me. I do want to try to get back into reading more banned books and more classics, as both of those have fallen off for me lately.
Let's see if I can do this quick! It's been a month since my last check-in so...Finished:
The Four Queens of Crime
We Used to Live Here
The Mimicking of Known Successes
The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses
The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles
A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death
Murder by the Book
A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer
Currently Reading:
The Busybody Book Club
Tigers Between Empires: The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and China
Gotta run!
Good afternoon!While some of you are getting snow, we're getting tornadoes here in central Oklahoma. So that was really fun this morning getting ready for school and work. Not the usual way we come back from winter break.
I only finished one book: The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys for a book written by an author from Michigan. I really enjoyed this (which I have all the books I've read from her). It's set in Spain after the Spanish Civil War, but still under a dictatorship. I didn't know anything about this time in history so I learned a lot.
QOTW: I exceeded my reading goals and hit a personal best this year! I've also completed the PS Reading Challenge every year since 2015 so that always feels good. I upped my reading goal for this year from 50 to 60 and even though I feel like I'm off to a slower start, I feel good about accomplishing it.
Finished:The Battle of the Labyrinth (4/5 stars)
The Last Olympian (4/5 stars)
These conclude the quintet of original Percy Jackson novels quite well. They are a bit different in style from the "road trip" adventures that the series started with, but they worked much better for me on this second attempt.
The Book of Lost Tales 1 (3/5 stars) (52 Book Club: includes a map)
This is one where proper expectations for what is in the book are very necessary. Much of this material is the early version of what would morph over decades into part of The Silmarillion. There is much commentary included on what changes exist between different versions and the evolution of names and fantasy languages. If you know your Fingolfins from your Finarfins, then you will probably find something of interest.
The Icarus Hunt (3/5 stars) (52 Book Club: A Publisher Starting with "B" - Bantam Spectra)
I gave this book a reread to test if I wanted to read the Icarus books written decades later. It's an interesting enough mystery and sci-fi adventure, but I feel it came to an appropriate conclusion in this volume. The book felt a bit long this time, so I was probably in my skimming era when I rated it as a top choice years ago.
Foundation (4/5 stars)
I love the concept for this book and series. It's about trying to limit the dark times after an empire becomes destined to fail. The appeal of the writing is in its use of ideas and conversations to propel the stories, and violence and peril are given the back seat.
DNF:
The Last Continent (2/5 for the 50 pages read)
Pratchett has two more chances this year to win me over. I can say that Rincewind is not my favorite, and the dunces working for the university were not my cup of tea, either. Written humor is hard, and parody/satire is even more so. I recognize the author's talent, but we just haven't connected to date.
Currently reading:
Debtors' Planet
Revelation Space
The Big Four
Question of the Week:
I did not complete any challenges last year except for my local library's "25 in '25" challenge.
This year, I have ideas sketched out for PS and the 52 Book Challenge.
Happy Thursday! Things are pretty quiet for me lately. Finished:
The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel - 3.5 stars - for a book with a character who does Pilates or Lagree. A graphic memoir detailing the author's lifelong relationship with physical fitness, including various fads over the decades such as Pilates.
Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression by Teresa Wong - 4 stars - for a book about postpartum. Another graphic memoir about the author's struggles with postpartum depression.
Comics and manga:
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Vol. 23
Akane-banashi, Vol. 14
My Love Story!!, Vol. 2
Currently reading:
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst - for a book where gardening or a garden is central to the plot. I am really enjoying this so far.
Upcoming/Planned:
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan - I'll fit it into a prompt after I read it; I just really want to finish this series.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid - for a book about women astronauts.
QOTW:
I'm happy enough with my reading goals last year. I ended up finishing all my challenges, with 240 books read total (including manga/graphic novels). I haven't really made any adjustments. My goal is 100 books to start, and to finish the Popsugar challenge. I'll probably check in on other reading challenges halfway through the year.
this is my first year with PS. So far, I am enjoying reading and matching up the prompts. I am hoping I have not over extended myself to challenges. I have 8 books already in PS, 5 books for ATY, I have not checked on 52 Book Club yet, and have 8 books for CFD. Of course most of the books overlap.I am currently reading Lost in Kooztnoowoo, a mystery thriller. It seems a little slow starting off.
My next book, being held on Libby, is Cursed Daughters. looking forward to this one.
I have about 20 books lined up for the rest of the month. we will see how that goes.
QOTW. I was very please with my reading goal last year. I ended with 142 books read. I have set a goal for 200 books this year. I am make changes and adjustments to what I am reading as I see new releases or authors that I want to enjoy.
Hello All!Happy New Year, hope everyone's year is going well so far.
The kid is back in school as of yesterday and not happy about it. It was a literal fight and a missed bus ride yesterday but, I finally managed to get him to school, and not late either.
I have been trying to read a lot and have decided to try to finish a book a day in January. A crazy goal I know! But I have so many that just need to be read and I feel irritated having to look at them on my nightstand. Once I get rid of the stack of library books I can focus on my new challenge I have set for myself this year.
QOTW: Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?
I am happy with my challenges last year since, I read 247 books and managed to actually finish all the challenges! A lot of my goals are the same this year; PS, ATY and 150 Goodreads goal. I am still working on the HRCYED challenge and we'll see if I decide to do next years one (starts in July). I also have decided to start a bookstagram to hold myself accountable to my new personal challenge. I want to read my TBR down and have made a list for each month, focusing on the ones that will count for my reading challenges first. I also decided to read all the PS Monthly books I haven't read yet. This comes after reading TBR's and before the reading challenges. I'm letting the challenges just come out organically, if I read one that fits then I'll put it in. I know that there will be ones I will have to be more deliberate about but, I'll deal with those later. Here's hoping my plan works.
Oh, I also (in a bid to help my friend read more) am gonna buddy read with her. We are starting with the Percy Jackson books, because she owns the first 5. So I'll have to add The Lightning Thief to my January reads.
2026 Challenges
Popsugar: 3/50
ATY: 5/52
AtoZ: 0/26
Goodreads: 7/150
GR Bookmarks: Winter 3/12
GR WTR: 30/445
Physical TBR: 0/199
Kindle TBR: 0/140
Finished
7 Completed, 3 Popsugar
Death and Dinuguan
PS #23 , ATY #7
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls
ATY #27
Measure with Your Heart: Southern Home Cooking to Feed Your Family and Soul: A Cookbook
ATY #46
History Lessons
ATY #4
Shine
PS #16, ATY #2
Dear Mr. Henshaw
PS #47
They Called Us Enemy
Currently Reading
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
Star of the Show: My Life on Stage
Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day
Is This Normal?: Judgment-Free Straight Talk About Your Body
Tusk Love
Great Big Beautiful Life
Upcoming
Library
Little Black Dress
Red Sister
Out of My Mind
** I've got a bunch more library books but...I'm doing this by memory since I got a new computer and I still have my document on my old computer. I haven't had a chance to bring it over yet. Plus it just died so I can't look at it. Hopefully most of this is correct.**
I finished The Witch Elm.I read There is a Tide as my book with a Type C character.
I read Zero Days as my book that starts with Z.
I was not super crazy about those 3 books, though the first two had mostly to do with the ending.
I have just started Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space as my book about a woman astronaut.
QOTW: I guess so.
PopSugar 2/50AtY 2/50
Finished:
Woman on the Edge by Samantha M Bailey
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Currently Reading:
Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson
Digging to America by Anne Tyler
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
DNF:
The Moorwitch by Jessica Khoury (threw it over New Year's Eve in favor of books planned for 2026. No doubt I'll finish it later this year.
QOTW
Completely blew it last year. Luckily, it's 2026 with completely new challenges that I'm excited about.
Greetings in 2026! We are starting off with a warm spell here in NYC - temps steadily in the high 40s and low 50s. Rain. And I'm ignoring all of it because it's the first week everyone including me is back in the office. Today was a banner day - received decisions in 2 cases for a client in their favor! Love spreading good news. I'm having a very slow reading start, still reading a couple of books from 2025 and slowly reading my IRL book club book.
Finished: In Search of King Solomon's Mines - love love love this book! Author is an adventurer/explorer/writer and he sets out to find the legendary gold mines of King Solomon which his research tells him are in Ethiopia. Fascinating historical info, and quite a journey. I used it for PS Prompt - thought it fit a prompt but didn't and ATY - long journey or road trip
Currently reading - from 2025:
This Side of Paradise = I'm in a better head space for it and it's style now than before the holidays. My brain was mush in December.
Dreamland I had listened to most of it in audible during my vacation travels but realized that as always, audio wasn't really working for me - I have no sense that I have read the book. So I have gone back to the print copy - rereading parts and then will finish it.
Started this week - for book club
Heavenly Tyrant - it's the 2nd in the Iron Widow series and while not far, I am really disappointed at this point. For those of you of a certain age -- I feel like it's Dynasty and the shower scene that ended the series. I'm having a hard time picking it back up to read for Sunday discussion -- writing is fine but it feels so contrived, I'm so irritated and disappointed by the manipulation, and it feels soooo YA (not my favorite genre). I'll read it and probably finish for Sunday -- but it will be a push - it's about 600 pages.
I rarely abandon a book -- it has to be totally unreadable. The only book I pushed to finish and regretted doing so was Wolf Hall. There're always significant parts that I end up enjoying.
QOTW: I'm fine with my goals last year -- I did not meet the GR challenge but knew that wasn't happening as of May 2025 - - all related to a combo of work and life obligations that came out of nowhere. I finished just about all my challenges, including personal ones, except for 1 trim challenge and the Agatha Christie challenge. I'm fine with that.
I've cut back a little on challenges, reduced my GR goal slightly, because the same work/life matters that threw off 2025 are dominating my life in 2026. Just being real. I mean, I still read 140 books in 2025!
Happy New Year! Lucky you and the snow. It felt like a spring day here! Not ok. Need more snow before that can happen!Finished 01/50
To Dream in the City of Sorrows for "book you planned to read in 2025". Very important for the B5 fandom! Not bad, overall.
Currently Reading
Being Bread for "book under 250 pages". This is great so far!
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story for "book that starts with Z". Just started it. Not my typical genre, so we'll see!
QotW
Yep! I finished the challenge, so I'm happy! Fixin' to do the same this year, hopefully!
Happy Thursday! We're getting a break in the rain finally which has been so nice! But now it's very chilly. Which wouldn't be bad except my apartment basically has no insulation or heating. So I'm layering up again.At 3/50- solid start to the challenge!
Finished:
This Could Be Us- I liked that this romance focused on the female lead getting back on her feet before diving into the relationship. And the love interest was pretty great too.
-20 A book with a character who does Pilates or Lagree
The Old Fire- I really like this author's writing, but I felt like so much was left unsaid that I don't feel like I got a real sense of these characters. Love the writing, wanted more from the book
-16 A book less than 260 pages
The Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories- a collection of 5 short stories. Loved the first three, the last two I thought were really interesting concepts, but didn't grab me as much. Overall a really good collection.
-43 Two books written by real-life partners or spouses (1)
Currently reading:
The Flower Bearers- so far this memoir is really beautifully written. It's about the author dealing with the attack that nearly killed her husband, and the sudden loss of a close friend, so I suspect it will be very moving.
Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens- I love Eddie Izzard, so this audiobook has been a treat. I'm only a few chapters in, but I already recommend it
QotW:
I'm happy with how my popsugar challenge went last year- even if I did wait until the last week to finish the challenge.
Each year I also pick 20 books to read- usually backlist that I've owned for a while. Last year I read 3 of the 20... hopefully I do better this year!
Happy Thursday, everyone! Last month my local theater gave me a free movie ticket after they had to reschedule a showing due to a leaky roof. I finally used it this Tuesday to watch Zootopia 2 with my siblings, and we all really enjoyed it!On the reading front, I finished four books this week. Three of them were Book-of-the-Month picks, as I'm trying to reduce my stack and catch up to the current month. I’ve been a bit disappointed with my 2025 picks overall, but most of this week’s reads were solid. Here’s hoping my luck improves as the year goes on! I'm going to start tracking their yearly challenge on here just to hold myself accountable.
2025 Reading Challenges
PopSugar- 4/50
ATY- 4/52; Winter- 6/14; 17/24
52 Book Club- TBA
Read Good- 1/13
Buzzword- 0/12; Cover- 1/12
GR Bookmarks- 3/12
BOTM- 6/15; Omnivoreader- 5/6; Long Hauler- 2/4; Debut Darling- 2/5
1001 Books- 0/20
TBR- 2/50
Finished
The Heartbreak Hotel-This was one of my unread Book-of-the-Month books. I thought it was an okay romance. Some parts were sweet and cozy, other parts bothered me. On another note, this book did have a character that mentions doing Pilates! What were the odds?! The character is one of the guests who has very little page time, so I didn't count it. If I can't find a better option by the end of the year, I might have to settle for this. ☆☆☆
PS #15- a book about new beginnings
ATY #34- a book with a window on the cover
ATY Winter- THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Buzzword Cover #3- movement
BOTM #4
TBR #1
The Bombshell- another unread BOTM book. I read a lot of bad to mid BOTM books lately, so it was nice to read something that was actually well-written. The FMC is difficult to love though. ☆☆☆ 1/2
PS #3- a book you meant to read in 2025
ATY #28- a book related to a resistance, rebellion, or revolution
ATY Winter #12- three French hens
GR Bookmark- Page-turner
BOTM #5; Omnivoreader #4; Long Hauler #2; Debut Darling #2
TBR #2
The Lion Women of Tehran- another unread BOTM book. Overall a good historical fiction centered on friendship, feminism, and courage. It reminded me a lot of The Kite Runner except this book was not as tragic. I really enjoyed it. ☆☆☆ 1/2
PS #26- a book with a character who navigates infertility
ATY #18- a book with a location in the title
Read Good #13- a book with 20-26 letters in the title
GR Bookmark- Lasting reads
BOTM #6; Omnivoreader #5
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass: The Graphic Novel- picked this up because I needed to read a graphic novel adaptation for HRCYED 2.0. This was an excellent coming-of-age story and now I'm curious to read the original novel. Loved the latino rep! ☆☆☆☆☆
PS #19- a book about teen angst
ATY #2- a book that has a primarily red, green, or blue cover
ATY Winter- THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
GR Bookmark- Speed reader
Currently Reading
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
Rings of Fate
QOTW
I completed all my reading challenges and goals last year so I'm happy about that. Since completing them were easy, I decided to increase some of my reading goals for this year.
For reading challenges, I'm doing the same ones I did last year except for Booklist Queen and Barnes & Noble.
Happy Thursday!Someone started a free yoga class in my building and I always have to go in on Thursdays. (Which is why I seem to post late.)
Good Reads now tells me I'm a book behind, but I feel I made okay progress on my January books, especially since Murtagh is really long and Tolkien is harder to read than most books.
Maybe I need to find a short story or kids book to read for a prompt.
Series - 0/12
Number 1s - 0/10
Nobel laureates - 0/5
Rocky Horror challenge: 0/12
PS - 0/30
ATY - 0/45
PS movies - 0/50
Currently reading:
Murder Road - 45%
Murtagh - 20%
The Book of Lost Tales 1 - 10%
QOTW: I met all my reading goals for last year ... or exceeded them. Except that I never read that Newfoundland book for my reading across Canada as my library has "been acquiring" this book since November.
getting ready for the upcoming semester and did a bit of stress reading so I've already ticked off a few prompts.Revenge, Served Royal by Celeste Connally (ps 28 A book about debt) It's a historical mystery where aristocratic debts are the entire motivation of several characters. I enjoyed it
Murder Made Her Wicked (ps 33 A book about college) Another historical mystery, this time set on Wellsley College during the time of women's suffrage. I loved this one.
Tell-Tale Treats: A Magical Fortune Cookie Novel (ps 38 A book with any type of fruit on the cover or in the title) It has berry tarts on the cover which is funny since they're not in the story. It's a magic realism mystery. It's fairly good.
QOTW
I was very happy with my progress last year. The only one I didn't finish is the one I never do, the literary destinations one where you have to read a story for all 50 states. I'm content to get what I get for that one. Other than that I did well.
I don't see me making many changes this year. One thing I did today was to order all the library books for ones I know I don't have in my TBR pile and am unlikely to stumble on it because they're not things I read (like all the fertility/relationship prompts and exercise related one) I usually space the library books out more in case I stumble on something in my personal library but I know I'm not going to with those prompts
Happy Thursday from a welcomely warm Columbus! I don’t know if anyone else here is from the area, or has seen the memes but there’s an ongoing bit about how cars keep crashing into buildings here. The tagline being “why does this keep happening?” We ended last year with 63, and I’m pleased to report we’re already at 2 for 2026. I don’t know what it is about this that tickles me so much. Someone took the painting Nighthawks and added a car crashed into it and a tv in the diner with the buckeyes on it, I’m considering printing and framing it because it keeps making me laugh every time I scroll past it. Finished:
Gormenghast I didn’t quite finish this in time but it was for last year’s reading challenge. This is the sequel to Titus Groan, a gothic fantasy I’m a bit obsessed with. Everything about this series hits all the gothic fantasy notes that I love. Eerie castle, weird characters, conspiracy and betrayal with the right tough of humor.
Furia finished up the last bit of this book for last year’s soccer prompt. This was a good story, even if bits of the references went above my head.
Silver: Return to Treasure Island I don’t know why I read this since I’ve never actually read Treasure Island, but the audiobook was narrated by David Tennant so I was just along for the ride. I was not expecting this to be as heavy as it was. I now want to read the original story to maybe help some of the character references make more sense.
House of Odysseus follow up to Ithaca. Beautifully written, another addition to my ever growing collection of Greek myths but about the women. I’ve always found Penelope a compelling character, and have really enjoyed a kind but still badass depiction of her (The Penelopiad was very off putting to me).
Before We Say Goodbye the 4th installment in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. These are short and sweet interconnected stories taking place in a cafe where you can travel back in time, but only in one chair and you can’t move from that spot, and you only have until the coffee gets cold. They’re always very heartwarming stories but it always amuses me when the story starts with an incredulous cafe patron who wonders what the point is, only for them to travel back in time and realize the very person they wanted to talk to happened to randomly be in that cafe at some point in the past.
Currently Reading:
The Count of Monte Cristo
Girl Gone Missing
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Great Adventure Catholic Bible
Recently Watched:
Finally finished the last episode of Stranger Things. I’m not naturally a critical person, so I’m usually content with just about any bit of media I consume. I know there were a lot of people who didn’t like how this ended or the last season in general but I really enjoyed it and cried a lot during that last episode.
QOTW:
I think last year I was a little too lazy with my reading for too long of stretches so I’m hoping this year I will be more on task.
2025 Challenges:
Popsugar - 0/40; 0/10
Read Harder - 0/24
Classics - 0/12
European Tour - 1/10
12 Friends - 7/12
Yearly Goal - 2/180
Oh I forgot it was Thursday. That's;' a perk of three weeks off work. The non perk...I so don't want to go back to work on Tuesday. It's hard to so after 3 weeks off , and last semester was the worst I've had in ages and I just don't want to do it yet...I have not finished any books yet but I have several in progress. I've been more busy setting up challenge plans than reading the books. I set up PS, ATY,52, and Read Harder. I do many other challenges but those are the only ones I push to finish between 1/1 and 12/31 and pre-plan for
Currently reading:
North and South
The Histories of Herodotus
The Tiger's Wife
Tom Lake
The Starfish Sisters
QOTW:
I exceeded my goal by 15 books and finished all my challenges (albeit on 12/31) so I'm happy and setting the same goals again
Life update: Well, the builders and roofers finished, so we called in the decorator, and on his first day here the roof started leaking again. So now we have the builder, roofer and building control coming back later today to figure out what went wrong and what needs to be done to fix it. Then on Monday, our movers are coming to move the first batch of boxes to temporary storage to make it easier for us to get the rest packed and to stage the house for sale. It's all very stressful, and I hate it.Reading update: This week I finished three books:
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them - Reading About Writing: Habits. If, like me, you learned close reading techniques at school, then I don't think you're the target audience for this book. 3 stars.
Die Marquise Von O... - PS: outside your comfort zone and German Challenge: many German/Swiss/Austrian kids read it in school. I picked this up because it was used as an example in the previous book. The plot resolution is deeply unpleasant by modern #MeToo standards, but the writing quality is otherwise high. 3 stars.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda: Volume 3 - audiobook, no prompt. Very disappointing; Vivekananda comes across as far more narrow-minded and, indeed, bigoted than in the first two volumes, and the narration is much worse. 1 star.
Stats:
Popsugar: 1 this week, 1/50 total
Diversity Challenge: 0 this week, 0/14 total
Touch the Rainbow, Read the Rainbow: 0 this week, 0/13 total
Queer Reads Bracket Challenge: 0 this week, 4/7 total
Flowers for Your Shelves: 0 this week, 1/22 total
German Challenge: 1 this week, 5/10 total
Spanish Titles ABC: 0 this week, 1/26 total
French TBR: 0 this week, 1/20 total
Great Big Jewish Literature Challenge: 0 this week, 4/21 total
Anti-Capitalist Inspiration: 0 this week, 9/30 total
Reading About Writing: 1 this week, 3/40 total
All books finished this year: 3 this week, 4 total
DNF or paused this year: 0 this week, 0 total
Challenges completed this year: 0
Challenges in progress (end date in 2026): 4
Challenges in progress (no end date): 7
Currently reading:
The Three Ravens Folk Tales: New tellings of half-forgotten stories from England's 39 Historic Counties - PS: Spouses (1); Rainbow: Red Book
Woman on the Edge - PS: post-partum and January book
The Sins of Our Fathers - audiobook, completing the series, no prompt
The Complete Mahabharata - spiritual reading, no prompt
Journey to the West (Chinese Lore podcast) - Discord book club, no prompt
QOTW: Last year was about getting back into reading for me, and it went way better than I expected. I set myself a goal of reading 50 books and completing the PS challenge, and I actually read 178 and completed 10 challenges.
This year, I still want to be cautious, partly because we're about to uproot ourselves and move to a new region and partly because I don't want reading to become another source of stress. I set myself a target of reading 100 books and completing the four challenges on my list that have end dates in 2026. That's PS, Diversity 2026, Touch the Rainbow/Read the Rainbow, and the Queer Reads Bracket Challenge. I would also like to make noticeable progress on the lifetime challenges and on research for my own writing project, but I'm not setting a numerical target for those. I decided not to do the GR Bookmarks this year; the glitches were too frustrating. The PS challenge and Diversity 2026 challenge between them should make sure that I still read broadly and diversely.
Kat wrote: "Hi everyone!!!Popsugar 2/50
I´m currently trying to get the most out of my mostly free 3 months suscription to Kinle Unlimited, really getting into manga and comics but still trying not to forge..."
You can ask me for recs on manga, light novels, and anime at anytime! Or friend me and you can pillage my shelves!
Hi all, I'm joining you again this year after a year of absence. I hope everyone's OK. In the Netherlands, where I live, we started 2026 with unusual cold and even snow. Now the snow is gone, but we're getting a new layer tonight. It will be over by Monday. It was panic all over the place, especially the youngsters in our company were afraid to go to work: 'couldn't open my car' (they really don't know the tricks...), 'there's snow on the road'. It was 45+ running the office this week... We grew up with cold winters every year. Now it's a once-in-10-year-event, so these youngsters never learned how to 'survive'. To put it in perspective: we had about 5 to 10 centimeter of snow...
I'm currently reading Wondermond by Anne-Gine Goemans.
My reading goal is to enjoy reading and read whatever I like. Life is too short to force myself to read for goals. We faced some medical challenges last year, so my 2026 goal is to enjoy life. Everything is ok again now, so no worries.
I'm going to participate in the 'Tournament of Books' of a Dutch reading group in the categories historical fiction, nonfiction and maybe literature as well. We read 4 to 8 books for each categorie and rate them.
I chose this year's Popsugar for challenging myself when I want to read outside my comfort zone. So my goal is not to complete, just looking for new reading experiences.
Happy reading everyone!
Welcome back, Harmke! Be sure to let the group know if any Pilates comes up in the Tournament, as I'm sure some folks will be grateful.
Harmke wrote: "It was panic all over the place, especially the youngsters in our company were afraid to go to work: 'couldn't open my car'..."LOL they couldn't open their car door??
But that reminds me ... When I first moved here, I used to take a toll road (the NY Thruway, to be precise) to get to work. It was a good road in winter because they do an excellent job of keeping the snow cleared off. (Yes, this is the same road that was blocked for six hours in 2014 due to a bad snow storm outside of Buffalo. But I don't live near Buffalo!) But back then you had to take a ticket when you got on the highway, and then you paid when you exited (the toll you paid was based on the distance travelled). When it was really cold out, my car window would be frozen shut, so I had to open my door to reach out to get the ticket and then to pay.
Sorry to hear you had a struggle last year. Glad you're doing better now.
JessicaMHR wrote: "I have been trying to read a lot and have decided to try to finish a book a day in January.,..."Good luck!! If you really focus on it, you can do it!
Andrea wrote: "Happy Thursday, everyone! Last month my local theater gave me a free movie ticket after they had to reschedule a showing due to a leaky roof. I finally used it this Tuesday to watch Zootopia 2 with..."That is very cool!!
We saw Marty Supreme last weekend. I wasn't terribly interested and knew nothing about it except Timothee was in it. It was AMAZING!
Dubhease wrote: "... Good Reads now tells me I'm a book behind, ... Maybe I need to find a short story or kids book to read for a prompt. "Yes that's why I started the year with two picture books and a novella! And next week I'm reading a graphic novel. I hate feeling like I'm "behind" at the start.
Happy New Reading Challenge Year! I completed my first book of the year, which worked for this challenge and another one that I'm working on (even though I started the book at the end of 2025). It also checked off two bookmarks for the GR Winter Challenge, so I guess it was a good pick from a reading challenge standpoint! One of my book clubs will be discussing it on Sunday, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. I'm currently at 1/40 and 0/10 for POPSUGAR and 1/75 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge. The other challenges I'm working on are BookRiot Read Harder (0/24), the Politics and Prose Reading Challenge (1/40), and the Libro.fm Audiobook Reading Challenge (0/24).
Finished:
* Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which I used for "a book about women astronauts."
Currently Reading:
* The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries edited by Michael Sims;
* All Fours by Miranda July;
* The Radical King written by Martin Luther King Jr., edited by Cornel West, and narrated by LeVar Burton, Gabourey Sidibe, Cornel West, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Leslie Odom Jr., Michael K. Williams, Kevin Free, Colman Domingo, Bahni Turpin, and Michael Colter; and,
* The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki, which is my other book clubs' pick for January.
QotW:
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments? I had several bookish/reading goals last year and met them all, so I am happy 😊 I also met my goal of completing 25 POPSUGAR prompts (ended with 26) and reading 85 books total (I hit 90...thanks to a bunch of comics and short stories).
My bookish resolutions for 2025 were:
* read at least six NetGalley backlist titles before the end of the year (I read seven);
* nominate books I own for book club options (I read four books I already owned that way - two titles for each book club);
* read at least one book I own per month (I read 41 books, so definitely overachieved on that one); and,
* write/post at least 24 reviews before the end of the year (I also overachieved on this one by posting 44 reviews).
For 2026, my bookish resolutions/goals are to stick with what worked (and kept me focused on my overarching goal of reading more books I own in general):
* read at least six NetGalley backlist titles;
* read at least one book I own per month; and,
* write/post at least 24 reviews before the end of the year.
I'm also adding the generic goal to complete as many reading challenge prompts as possible using only books I own.
My POPSUGAR Reading Challenge goal is to complete 25 prompts and my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge goal is 75. I don't have a set number in mind for the other three reading challenges since I want to focus on using books I own (or book club reads).
One last goal I had was to create my own reading log/tracker. I've been relying on one from Book Riot the past few years and decided to try creating one of my own since I haven't seen an article from them with a 2026 version. I'm thinking they might have decided to put it behind the Read Harder paywall this year. Or the person who had been creating/sharing them decided not to do one this year. Or I just missed it and my search terms are bad. Regardless! I experimented and am pleased with the results. I wasn't able to figure out all of the fancy stuff they built in but my version's working for me 📚🤓📚
Happy Friday! I made it through 5 books since the new year and I'm feeling good :)Finished:
Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns - 5 stars. Andrea Gibson was a jewel. 2 books written by real-life partners, 1
Born with Teeth - 5 stars. A razor-sharp script I'm dying to see performed. Different format than your usual
Atmosphere - 4.5 stars, for my IRL book club. Beautiful, with top-notch narration and excellent characterization. Lesbians in the 1980s NASA program with a Top Gun vibe, although some part of me couldn't shake a weird 2-dimensional feeling (and I'm grouchy we didn't get an epilogue). A book with a character who has curly hair, for now.
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love - 2.5 stars. Cute idea, love the queer vibes, just not the book for me.
Starling House - 5 stars, reread. I listened to the audio this time and Natalie Naudus is fantasticcccc
Current:
The Butcher's Masquerade - my cats have been needy so I haven't had nearly as much time with this as I would like, but it's ramping up near the 100-page mark.
Anything You Can Imagine - a fantastic behind-the-scenes book on the making of the Lord of the Rings films (and, I suspect, the Hobbit trilogy in the later chapters). A few spots have wandered off track but for the most part it has been highly engrossing.
I took a break from my audiobook yesterday to reread Ian McKellen's old LOTR blogs, The Grey Book and The White Book. It's my favorite world to revisit, and I'm happily anticipating returning to Middle Earth with the Andy Serkis audiobooks of The Two Towers and The Return of the King since I finished 2025 with the Fellowship audio.
PS 3/50
ATY 2/52
Mount TBR 1/12
QOTW: Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?
Considering everything I dealt with that I hadn't planned on in 2025, I'm happy I read anything after February and so I'm honestly delighted to have read nearly 100 books last year. I scaled down the Mount TBR plan to start with an even lower goal (after last year was torpedoed and looking at how busy I plan to be this year), but I"m still optimistic regardless.
💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖📖💖HAPPY SATURDAY!!!
ULTIMATE POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE 2026
Acidic Quagga's List - Started January 1, 2026
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Popsugar Challenge Completion: 1/50, 2%
📖=book 💻=ebook 🎧=audiobook 🌠=rating
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Currently Reading
📖Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey
Popsugar January Group Challenge, Prompt 24: A book about postpartum.
📖Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
Popsugar Challenge, 11: A book with a dad as the primary caregiver.
Completed
📖 🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Popsugar Challenge, Prompt 6: A book with an overweight main character whose story isn't about losing weight.
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Other
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Currently Reading
📖Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for LifeStacy T. Sims
2026 Book Riot's Read Harder Task 7: Read a sports book by a woman, trans, or nonbinary writer.
Completed
📖 🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima
2026 Book Riot's Read Harder Task 16: Read a queer picture book.
📖 🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠Perfectly Pegasus by Jessie Sima
📖 🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠Bitch Planet, Vol. 2: President Bitch by Kelly Sue DeConnick
📖 🌠🌠🌠🌠Bitch Planet: Triple Feature, Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Dumped
📖🌠🌠Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer
📖🌠🌠Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
I really wanted to like this book. I adore the movie! 😭
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Dani wrote: "Happy Thursday from a welcomely warm Columbus! I don’t know if anyone else here is from the area, or has seen the memes but there’s an ongoing bit about how cars keep crashing into buildings here. ..."Sometimes dark humor is just the thing!
In my area, we have a low railroad bridge that gets hit repeatedly by trucks. There are almost twenty warning signs leading up to the bridge, AND they've closed off the highway exit leading to the bridge, but somehow truck drivers keep managing to slam into it. Usually it's just funny because a truck is turned into a sardine cane, but back in 2010 it was a tragedy because people died. Since then, no one has been injured, so I feel safe laughing at it. "Winner and still champion!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onondag...
https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Ononda...
We are still getting snow every day here, but at least it's just a little bit so the roads have been more or less clear. My driveway, on the other hand, is a mess. Today is supposed to be above freezing so maybe I can scrape some of it clear. I think I can already see some pavement!
***** Admin stuff *****
The January group read is: Woman on the Edge You can join the discussion here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
The February group read will be: Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop (I happen to be reading that right now! There are some discussion questions at the end of the book that we can use if no one else steps up to lead the discussion.)
Let us know if you'd like to lead the discussions!
The nomination poll for the March group read (which could be used to fulfill prompt #34 a book with a trans or nonbinary protagonist) is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...
You've got one more week to nominate your favorite, poll closes on Tuesday.
This week I finished 4 books, 3 of them for this Challenge (and very short!), so I'm now 3/50:
Puff, the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow, Lenny Lipton, & Éric Puybaret (Illustrator) - a picture book for the "based on a real song" category; all of the magic is in the original song, this art was bland and added nothing to the story. This was a disappointment.
Claire and the Unicorn Happy Ever After by B.G. Hennessy- a picture book for the "zodiac sign" - the story was a cute (if unoriginal) idea, but the words had no fun rhythm for reading aloud.
The Future by Naomi Alderman - this audiobook took me a long time to finish, just because life circumstances got in the way of listening to audiobooks. The ending was a pleasant surprise for me, so I ended up loving the book. No challenge category.
The Secrets of the Starbucks Lovers by Larissa Zageris & Kitty Curran - I read this as a .pdf on my computer, for the "different format" category. This was really funny! The mystery was solved by Taylor Swift, secret girl detective ("for lack of a catchier-yet-still-feminist term")! If you've enjoyed any other of their collaborations (namely, the choose-your-adventure My Lady's Choosing), you'll probably like this one too.
Popsugar 6% 3 /50
Must Reads 0% 0 /1
2026 pub 0% 0 /50
NetGalley ratio 90% (eight good books waiting to be read now!!)
I still have six pending requests on NG so I'm not getting to that 100% ratio any time soon, because they are getting approved far faster than I can read them. I tried to restrain myself but there were just so many new and exciting books, I had to request them! Reading good (free) books is more important than seeing a 100% ratio.
Question of the Week
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?
I guess I sort of answered the second half of this last week - I seem to be stuck in a rut of asking the same questions in different ways!
Yes I am happy (mostly!) with last year's reading goals. I finished Popsugar, and AtY and the bonus AtY, which I wasn't even sure I was going to do. The only thing I didn't finish was the book that was leftover from my 2024 "must reads" list. THIS year that book will be my ONLY "must read."
I have very modest reading goals for 2026:
* I'm going to complete the 2026 Popsugar challenge.
* I'm going to read the ONE book that I put on my "must read in 2026" list (it's a re-read for me: The Citadel of the Autarch.
* I'm also going to get my NetGalley ratio up to 100% at some point during the year, ideally by the end of Q1, but for now I'm not putting a time limit on that. I'll see how it goes. It's not looking good because I have requested NINE new books, because I'm an idiot. I'll wait and see how many I get...