Week 10: 3/5 - 3/12 > Likes and Comments
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Happy Thursday all.This week I've been watching the new season of the live-action One Piece! I'm super happy that they've done their best to keep it true to the original anime, even down to replicating the outrageous hairstyles and costumes and wacky powers. I hope they greenlight a third season...
Books read this week:
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea -- for “book inspired by a real band, album, song, or artist.” Short and fascinating account of the making of one of the bestselling indie records of all time.
Architects of Memory -- for “book about women astronauts.” Entertaining but somewhat predictable space opera. I wish more effort had been made to give the two POV characters distinctive voices.
The One and Only Bob -- not for the challenge. About time I read the sequel to The One and Only Ivan… and it was super-good. And the fact that Danny Devito does the audiobook is gold.
The One and Only Ruby -- not for the challenge. Next in the “One and Only Ivan” series. These books are cute and sweet.
Regular Challenge: 30/40
Advanced Challenge 7/10
Books read that weren’t for the challenge: 6
DNF:
Dungeon Crawler Carl -- I wanted to like this one so bad. But I’m coming to find that LitRPG is just not my thing. Plus the main character’s sense of humor never rises above fourteen-year-old-boy levels.
Currently reading:
The Enchanted Greenhouse -- for “book with an overweight character that isn’t about losing weight”
The Beautiful Something Else -- for “book with a trans or nonbinary protagonist”
The Air Raid Book Club -- for “book about a book club”
Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself -- for “book about a pop star”
QOTW:
I have no idea... I've never really thought about this. And most of my favorite protagonists are either flawed in strange ways or have terrible things happen to them, haha...
Happy Thursday!Reading Challenges:
52 Book Club: 36/52 (March Mini-Challenge: 1/3)
52 Books Read It, Watch It: 3/12
52 Book Mystery Challenge: 1/50
ATY: 27/52 (ATY Spring: 9/15)
Booklist Queen: 30/52
Popsugar: 29/50
Goodreads Winter Bookmarks: 11/12
My Ever-Growing TBR: 30/244 – 11.9% (My goal is 33.3%.)
Five-Star Read of the Week:
🍀 The Lager Queen of Minnesota: A Novel: Loved it! A novel of family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate, and the secrets of making a world-class beer. Stradal's writing is so good... Sentimental but not cloying (it could have been, but it's not). These people seem real to me. Read this, and don't miss Kitchens of the Great Midwest. So, so good. (52 Books #10 – spans a decade or more/Booklist Queen #40 – an author you love) ★★★★★
Also Recently Completed:
🍀Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools (ATY Spring #10 – published in April) ★★★★
🍀 Dirty Little Secret, Wild Rose Ranch, #1 (ATY Spring #12 – blooming flowers on the cover) ★★★★
🍀 The Great Mann (ATY Spring #11 – May mentioned in the text/Popsugar #15 – new beginnings/Goodreads Bookmarks #9 – Black History) ★★★★
🍀 The Jills (52 Books March #1 – a new-to-you author/Mystery #26/ATY #51 – published in 2026) ★★★★
🍀 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI: Page Turners Book Club. (ATY Spring #14 – FLOWERS in title/subtitle/Booklist Queen #49 – map on the inside cover) ★★★★★
🍀 People We Meet on Vacation (52 Books RIWI #3 – title starts with P/ATY Spring #2 – major weather event/Popsugar #14 – author from Michigan) ★★★★
🍀 Ruthless Fae (52 Books #51 – includes a map/ATY #38 – part of a series) ★★★
🍀 The Wolverine Way (ATY Spring #3 – author’s initials in MARCH WINDS) ★★★
🍀 Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (ATY Spring #9 – SHOWERS in the title/subtitle) ★★★
🍀 Bright We Burn (Booklist Queen #15 – alternate history/Popsugar #38 – fruit on the cover) ★★★★
🍀 To the Moon and Back: BOTM selection/Reese's Book Club selection. (ATY #33 - an indigenous character or author/Popsugar #5 – women astronauts) ★★★★
QOTW: I have no idea... Maybe I'll come back to this later.
Question of the Week:My first thought was Talon Karrde, introduced by Timothy Zahn in Star Wars: Heir to the Empire. He is very bright and clever, and he has strong people and leadership skills. If it were not for him being a criminal, he would be a decent role model.
Another character with attributes I admire is Miyamoto Usagi from the Usagi Yojimbo series. He has a good heart and seeks for peace and harmony. He goes out of his way to defend the weak and helpless in his travels.
DNF:
Rogue Saucer
This was a reread that I got halfway through and wasn't enjoying all that much. A couple reviews mention that a character is tortured near the end, which I did not want to read about, so I dropped it.
Finished:
Valhalla (3 out of 5 stars, not for a prompt)
Murder at the Vicarage (3 out of 5 stars, reread, Agatha Christie Challenge, nosy neighbor character (52 Book Club))
The character of Miss Marple is one I enjoy. Her first mystery is just okay, though, mainly due to a bland viewpoint character in the vicar. Len Clement is no Hastings.
The Wishing Game (3 out of 5 stars, a book set in Maine)
Currently reading:
Birding to Change the World: A Memoir (a book about birding)
The Sittaford Mystery (Agatha Christie Challenge)
GODZILLA: THE ORIGINAL MARVEL YEARS OMNIBUS JUNGGEUN YOON COVER
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
The Lays of Beleriand
Morning all! We got the last kitten spayed yesterday, and got the usual instructions to keep her "calm and quiet." She had the cone off before we got home, and is now whooshing around the house at warp speed.31 books so far this year.
Popsugar 24/50.
52 Book Club 25/52.
Booklist Queen 23/52.
This Challenge Killed the Bookworm 12/25.
Finished:
A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe. 18th century gothic novel. In less than 200 pages, I think every single character was wrongly presumed dead at least once. Used for "makes you want to go to Italy" (PS), "set in a castle" (52BC), and "historical romance" (BLQ).
Tough Guy by Rachel Reid, book 3 of the Game Changer series. I'm enjoying how the stories intersect: Shane and Ilya from Heated Rivalry play a small but crucial role. This one has a slightly different tone; the MC struggles with severe anxiety. No prompt.
Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo and Dani Pendergast. Used a graphic novel to get the "shadow daddy" category out of the way quickly. Also for "Don't go in the woods" (TCKTBW).
You Are My Joy and Pain: Love Poems by Naomi Long Madgett for "author from Michigan" (PS) and "pretty cover" (TCKTBW). I like poets who can use fresh images and still be understandable.
Homeland of My Body: New and Selected Poems by Richard Blanco. No prompt.
The World Record Book of Racist Stories Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar. As with their earlier book, You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism, they take painfully racist encounters and make them hilarious - always at the perpetrator's expense, never the victim's. No prompt.
Currently reading:
Patriot: A Memoir by slain Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.
Good morning, everyone! Happy Thursday!I’m currently 4 days into my first food elimination trial, and I think it’s safe to assume that my hives were being caused by a wheat allergy. After starting a gluten free diet on Monday morning, the hives have decreased to almost nothing. For the first time in nearly a year, I don’t feel like I want to scratch all of my skin off…which is amazing.
I’d be lying if I said that I’m loving the process of transitioning to a GF diet, because it means a huge change in my eating habits, but I’m 100% wiling to put up with it for the reward of feeling better.
As far as reading is concerned, this has been a fantastic week! I am continuing to take part in this month’s March Mystery Madness readathon, and I’ve had a chance to read some great books. I will be branching out into some genres other than mysteries starting this weekend, since I have several new releases that I need to get to this month, but I’m really enjoying the chance to read some mysteries that I’ve been meaning to get around to for a long time.
Here are my current challenge and TBR totals…
Goodreads Challenge: 38/250
Mount TBR Challenge: 17/150
📚Physical TBR: 15/462
📱Ebook TBR: 2/161
🎧Audiobook TBR: 0/1
TBR Checklist Total: 17/624 (2% complete)
TBR Books DNFed in 2026: 0
TBR Books Soft DNFed in 2026: 1
I did not purchase any new books this week!
“New” Books Bought in 2026: 26
“New” Books Read in 2026: 20
“New” Books DNFed in 2026: 0
“New” Books Checklist Total: 20/26 (76% complete)
Here are the books I finished this week…
Finished Reading (Fiction):
~The Hound of Death — Despite having read most of Agatha Christie’s books and short stories, every single story in this collection was brand new to me. That made the book a tremendous amount of fun to read. I especially enjoyed the fact that most of the stories included a supernatural element. Content Alert: (view spoiler)
Apparently my first post got cut off, so here's the second half...~The Osaka Syndicate: a Mystery-Thriller, Hunter and Higashi Book 2 — This is the second book in the Hunter and Higashi series. While this book had a somewhat slow start that made me consider DNFing, I decided to keep reading, and I’m glad that I did. This turned out to be a good story, and it got very exciting in the second half. 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
~The Beekeeper's Apprentice — This is the first book in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery series. Although I did find the pacing of this book somewhat slow, especially in the first quarter (which included a lot of exposition), I did enjoy the mystery. I’ll definitely be continuing the series later this month. 📱: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
None
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 just over 21.5 hours remaining. 🎧
~American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century — This has been a very interesting read so far. I’m currently about two-thirds of the way through the book. 📚
~The Complete Sherlock Holmes Treasury — While I have read all of the original Sherlock Holmes stories before, this is my first time reading this specific collection. I do want to stretch this book out over the entire month of March Mystery Madness, so I’m only reading 2 stories (or around 20-30 pages) per day. I’m just about halfway through this book. 📚
~A Ghastly Catastrophe — This is the tenth book in the Veronica Speedwell series. I’m currently about halfway through this book, and I’m really enjoying it. The characters and story are fantastic! 📚
QOTW:
I really admire strong female characters, especially women detectives, so I would have to say either Veronica Speedwell or Phryne Fisher.
Happy Thursday!Finished:
The Obake Code by Makana Yamamoto - 3.75 stars - for a book about a mob. I liked this a lot, although I occasionally found the action a little hard to follow, with the main character flitting back and forth between the real world and basically cyberspace.
The Payback by Kashana Cauley - 3 stars - for a book about a debt. This felt like it would work really well as a movie or TV series, but the book fell a little flat for me.
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook - 5 stars - for a book about a book club. A little hard to read at times, this graphic memoir is the true story of the author's time in college in South Korea in the 1980s under a fascist regime, and how she winds up joining the student protest movement against it.
I am currently at 15/50 for the Popsugar reading challenge (12/40 and 3/10).
Currently reading:
The Wedding People by Alison Espach - for a book with a character who navigates infertility. So far, it's a depressed woman getting roped into rich people problems. And for some reason, everyone likes telling her all their secrets/their life story even though they had no idea who she was last week. At least it's an easy read.
Upcoming/Planned:
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris - for a book about Afrofuturism. Since she's often called the 'Mother of Afrofuturism', I'm hoping it'll discuss her pioneering work as well as her life. I'm also interested because she used to live around here, and one of our local indie bookstores that she used to frequent has a mural of her in their shop.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - not sure what prompt, but I suspect I'll find one.
QOTW:
I honestly can't think of any off the top of my head. The majority of characters I like in fiction tend to be messes.
I am 48/50.This week, I finished:
Debts and Debtors: a book about debt; This was a quick, cozy mystery, but I really didn't enjoy it. Nothing about it was fleshed out. It felt like a children's book in a lot of ways, because it was so one-dimensional.
Murder in Tuscany: Italy prompt; This book wasn't bad, but it also just didn't engage me the way it could have. It is very well rated, but I had trouble keeping track of who was who.
The Friend Zone: Infertility: In many ways, this book was so relatable for me that I wanted to love it. I had a medically necessary hysterectomy last year as well to drastically improve my quality of life and there are a lot of feelings and emotions that come with doing that at a semi-young age. There was one thing about the book that I just could not forgive, so I rated it 3 stars, but it was nice to read about feminine health issues in a fiction book.
Currently reading:
The Lies I Tell: I made absolutely no progress on this book this week and I'm not sure why.
QOTW:
What an interesting question! I don't have an answer for it, but it is fun to think about it. Most of what I read involves deeply flawed humans, so I'm having trouble thinking of one.
Jen W. wrote: "... The Wedding People by Alison Espach - for a book with a character who navigates infertility. So far, it's a depressed woman getting roped into rich people problems. And for some reason, everyone likes telling her all their secrets/their life story even though they had no idea who she was last week. At least it's an easy read. ..."To my surprise, I REALLY enjoyed this book, and I liked it right away. I think if you're not liking it now, you're just not going to like it.
Hello, y’all. Continuing with home improvement projects. Front lawn now scheduled for next week. Prep and seeding…and me worrying about watering per prescribed schedule (15 minutes 4 times a day - everyday!) I am also making plans to buy seed to overseed the backyard and to ask the lawn company to do that seeding as well as aerate that yard. Another outlay of $K. I only hope it works.
Maintenance visit today from HVAC people for central air unit. Hopefully nothing will be found that is major.
Refrig ice-maker quit last week. Now scheduled for 3/19, so I went out and bought ice. Need my cold drinks with temps in the 80s.
Next big thing…taxes. I am dreading this.
Finished:
Twelve Years a Slave – PAS. I avoided this book for a long time. I am not really sure why, except that I expected a darker more graphic kind of book about slavery. Not that this isn’t about that dark state of being/suppression. Still, the story seemed to me to focus on what was good…and how to survive…rather than just the horribleness. 3*
The Cat Who Sang for the Birds – ATY Seasonal, PAS. A continuation of a series that is cozy and fun. 4*
The Murderer's Son – Kindle. PAS. ATY #40 (punctuation). Another book that I suspected would be dark and horrible…and yet was not exactly that…rather it had hope hidden in it. 4*
Everything Under – GR bookmark. Strange disjointed kind of story. I found it hard to follow who was who but got the general gist by the end. Not really my cup of tea type of writing, though. 3*
Winter in the Blood – ATY #45 (Bohemian Rhapsody). There is no particular line or stanza in the song that fits this book and yet the sense of hopelessness in the song resonated throughout this story of modern Indian life. 2*
Currently Reading:
James – PAS, ATY #10 (award winning). 14%
All the Shiny Things – Kindle. PAS. 14%
Moon Tiger – ATY #3 (Prompt that did not make it: Literary Fiction), PAS. 8%
Spiritual Reading:
The Heart of Stillness, the Elements of Spiritual Practice – Devotional reading. 33%
On Deck:
(library)
Six Easy Pieces - PAS
From Blood and Ash – ATY #6 (blood, sweat, tears), PAS
The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love: A Fallen Southern Belle's Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared – ATY seasonal, PAS
Six Geese A-Slaying – ATY Seasonal
The Camel Bookmobile – ATY Seasonal,
Four Red Sweaters: Powerful True Stories of Women and the Holocaust – GR Bookmark
We'll Prescribe You a Cat – GR Bookmark
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water – ATY Seasonal, PS #28 (debt)
Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America's Stolen Land – ATY Seasonal, PAS, PS #39 (marathon)
The Pear Affair - ATY Seasonal, PAS
(owned)
True Detectives – ATY# 52 (sunset vibes - 2025)
Sipsworth – ATY #36 (woman over 40)
Murder in the Library – ATY #35 (set in library)
Hog Wild – PS #15 (new beginnings)
PS 8/50 (and 9 on desk waiting)
ATY 17/52 (and 9 waiting), Seasonal 6/14 (and 7 waiting)
GR 44/200
QotW: This week's question was suggested by Brandon:
What is a character (or real person if non-fiction) from a book that you would like to be more like?
None come readily to mind at the moment. However, I like strong women protagonists who despite their failures or flaws power on through the situation and come out on top.
Hi all! It's been a busy week. Last weekend was spent at my brother's for his birthday, which was fun, but a lot of driving (for me, I rarely go more than 20 minutes down the road!). Tuesday I subbed, yesterday and today are half days for the kiddo. They get half days like every month! I think I had 1 or 2 half days each school year! (yes, insert "kids these days...." here). We invited one of my kiddo's friends over for a playdate this afternoon. They're mostly keeping each other entertained without destroying the house. Tomorrow, I aim to chill because we have cookie booths over the weekend.Our weather was glorious the past few days, in the 60s and 70s (typically in the 40s in March), today, we're back around freezing. Still, better than tornados striking around the country.
I finished The Storm I was aiming to use it for platonic friendship. And if you define platonic as non-sexual, then it works (between Lo and August), but I looked up the definition and it is defined a deeply loving, but nonsexual, friendship... so not so much. Several times it mentions August has curly hair, so I could use it there, I'll think about it. As for the mystery, I really liked it. I read it with a friend and she was less impressed. She felt like things were too convenient. I wouldn't say it was the most amazing mystery I've ever read, but it was fun.
After I finished that, I picked up The Secret Book Society based on someone from here posting that it was a really good book. So far, I like it, but the oppression of the women is bumming me out. I will need something lighter to go with it, I think.
QOTW: Unc from Chasing Fireflies is a great person. He has been through some horrible things, but manages to not be bitter and keep his heart open and care for others.
But funny timing on this question. My kiddo is learning about Americans who made a difference, like MLK, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson etc and some others that I actually haven't heard of before. One of the people is Eleanor Roosevelt. Everything I've ever read about her, she was a very inspiring person to me. If I didn't dislike the name Eleanor so much, I would have named my kiddo after her. As my kiddo was telling me about the people she's learning about, I told her that, she's also glad I didn't name her Eleanor!
Jennifer W wrote: "One of the people is Eleanor Roosevelt. Everything I've ever read about her, she was a very inspiring person to me. If I didn't dislike the name Eleanor so much, I would have named my kiddo after her. As my kiddo was telling me about the people she's learning about, I told her that, she's also glad I didn't name her Eleanor!..."LOL my great aunt was named Eleanor, and I seriously considered it for both my daughters because I always liked the name.
Of course, my middle name is Noel and I like that a lot too!! :-) (My mother did not realize that the spelling "Noel" usually a man's name.)
Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "One of the people is Eleanor Roosevelt. Everything I've ever read about her, she was a very inspiring person to me. If I didn't dislike the name Eleanor so much, I would have nam..."I think it's easier when woman have "boy" spellings than the opposite. I had a student named Nicole. Male. He made it a point get to class first and say "My name is Nicole. Please call mer Nick" before the rest of the class arrived.
Eleanor was my grandmothers name but no, like Jennifer I just couldn't do it. And my daughter is glad.
We are having weird weather in Los Angeles too. We are under a heat advisory. In winter, or at least what we call winter. It's expected to reach 25 degrees above normal. I'm at work where it's 86, creeping up to expected high of 89 in an hour or so. 90's tomorrow.I read one crappy book for a book club this week but did not choose prompts yet:
First Lie Wins
Lunch is over so...
QOTW:
I want to make changes in myself but no character fictional or otherwise is a model for it, so no one.
Happy Thursday, everyone! I attended another one of my library's book clubs yesterday. I had already read the book 6 years ago (Mexican Gothic), but maybe I should have done a reread because some of the things the members brought up, I was like, wait, that happened?! I read three books this past week, and they were all solid.
2025 Reading Challenges
PopSugar- 22/50
ATY- 36/52;
52 Book Club- TBA; Mini-Challenges- 4/6
Read Good- 10/13
Buzzword- 5/12; Cover- 5/12
GR Bookmarks- 11/12
BOTM- 6/15; Omnivoreader- 5/6; Long Hauler- 2/4; Debut Darling- 2/5
1001 Books- 6/20
TBR- 10/50
Finished
I Who Have Never Known Men- I had suspended this hold on Libby, but when I realized it was featured in the Persona Picks GR Bookmark list, I thought it was the perfect time to pick it up. I've seen this book raved about everywhere, so I guess I went in with high expectations. It was good, just a lot more philosophical than I expected. ☆☆☆ 1/2
PS #31- a book that makes you feel FOMO
ATY #4- a book by a new-to-you author
GR Bookmark- Persona Picks
All That's Left Unsaid- my library has this resource called Novelist Plus that gives you book recommendations based on read-alikes, and this was one of the books it gave me. Overall, it was a solid mystery that touches on immigrant themes. ☆☆☆
ATY #47- a book with "this", "that", "these", or "those" in the title
52BC March Mini #1- a "new-to-you" author
Buzzword #3- "this" & "that"
Some of Us Are Brave- picked this up because its set in my hometown and covers Hurricane Harvey, which I've lived through. It's about overcoming your fears and being brave. A cheesy message, but I think it's appropriate given this is a middle grade novel. ☆☆☆
ATY #43- a book involving survival
ATY Spring #2- a book where a major weather event is key to the plot
Currently Reading
Indian Horse
Middlesex
QOTW
I remember always wanting to be witty and fearless like Lizzie Bennett from Pride and Prejudice
It's spring break so that's nice. The reading is still rather slow going but okay, it's at least going.It took me too long to realize that frankly PS 24 A book about postpartum could be about ANY woman since it technically only refers to the birth of a child. I think, however, the intent is postpartum depression. I found a classic for it that I was going to get from Gutenberg Project for free and then found that a ton of things that would be on Gutenberg are also on Youtube so free audiobook, sure. That's what I did and read The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and this was actually a very well realized descent into madness. She's been confined to a room in a rental house so she can have quiet and the wall paper is the sinister element (it actually works as bizarre as it sounds)
I couldn't have been less interested in ps 8 A book about a sexless marriage and really had to search around for something I wanted to read. It took (again) a shockingly long time to realize I would be interested in lavender marriages. Also (again) I don't think that is the intent of the prompt but that's what I'm running with.
I did try one that was on the GR recs for this prompt but it was not about that at all. It was true crime and since she had a baby under a year by this (now dead) husband I'm like probably not a sexless marriage (guess could be someone else's kid but I wasn't interested enough to keep going. I found a manga instead I Want to be a Wall, Vol. 1 by Honami Shirono
I liked it (probably not enough to continue the series) It's about an aro-ace BL loving woman who marries a gay man in love with his straight childhood friend (basically they marry to get people off their backs) and it's going to be a story of them becoming friends since it doesn't appear they know each other well at the time of marriage.
I also read At Death's Dough: A Deep Dish Mystery by Mindy Quigley, an arc I was way behind with (and now the publishers are shooting me all kinds of arc some of which I'm going to have to say no to. I can't possibly read this many in time) It's a decent enough mystery set in WI and the sleuth runs a pizza joint.
I also finished another arc I was behind on The Final Problem by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, a historical mystery that does way too much name dropping and trying to play like Sherlock Holmes with a bad ending.
QOTW Do comic books count? I'd love to be Wonder Woman.
Is it Thursday already? It's been a mostly lovely week in NYC with warm temps and sunshine though it is also an unwelcome hint of the humidity and heat that will descend on us soon for the durartion, until at least fall. It would be so lovely if we had an actual spring, a long leisurely spring, as we had in 2020 where our only relief from lockdown was walks and time in our magnificent parks where a real spring embraced us. Who knew I'd long for anything that happened in 2020???
Rain bringing thunder and lightening and cooler temps arrived last night. That should push trees to bud and flowers to pop up in the parks. The last dirty ice mounds will also disappear.
PS 19/52 ATY 22/52
Finished:
Parable of the Sower - PS Afrofuturism - she was one of the first! - and ATY - the reindeer one - a secondary character has the last name Donner - and he's president of the futuristic US.
N or M? - PS granny hobby (a bit of a stretch - as characters happen to be knitting, but my rules my challenge) and ATY - punctuation in title.
Currently Reading:
Dangerous Admissions: Secrets of a Closet Sleuth
Piranesi
QOTW: Well, I always wanted to be Nancy Drew and I suspect I still do, LOL. Probably also Amelia Peabody in the Elizabeth Peters Egyptian mysteries. More contemporary ... not really sure, never really thought about it. While I'd like to be thinner, more athletic, and richer, I don't exactly have someone in mind who I would like to be - real or fictional.
I have been wanting to post and chat all day, but I was so busy. Completed 2 units on one of my ELAR (English Lanugage Arts and Reading) sections for my studying.
Then I finished chapter 3 of American Civil Wars: A Continental History, 1850-1873, and finished chapter 4 of American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804.
I'm currently reading books on the American Revolution and American Civil War because I got bored with the way I was studying. I was just writing the notes from the computer onto a notebook, so I was losing interest that way.
Then I figured if I read actual books on the subjects it would make things more engaging and I would have more fun in learning the material. Thankfully it's worked out that way.
*****
Book News:
Reading wise, things have been going great. I've started books 12 and 13 for the month and I am about to start books 14 and 15 as well. I've been loving my nonfiction book choices.
I haven't even had time to read my fiction book for the month and given how many NF's I'm reading and how thick they are, I may not get to it, but that's no great loss.
******
Question of the Week
This week's question was suggested by Brandon:
What is a character (or real person if non-fiction) from a book that you would like to be more like?
Oh man, I am struggling to answer this question. There are so many great people I'm reading in my history books and yet, a lot of not also. Humans are purposefully flawed, some more than others, and given the complexities of human nature, it would be hard to pick someone.
As long as the person that I embody is not a ra(!$+, a dr!nk3r, or a (r!m!na|, then I think I'm good.
Currently reading books on the American Revolution and Civil War and it's crazy at how some of those people were. It really makes me wonder why humanity was/is that way.
Happy Thursday! Usually daylight savings doesn’t affect me too bad, but this year it’s really knocked me out. Yesterday I forgot to set an alarm and almost made myself late for work- I guess I was more tired than I thought.Last Friday, I got to see Rebeca Solnit talk about her new book, and it was a really interesting discussion. I picked up a copy of her book, and hope to get to it next month. I’ve actually been really good about buying books this year- two I bought at author events and the other three at thrift stores.
My parents are coming up for lunch this weekend, so I’ll be doing a frantic cleaning over the next few days. It supposed to be on the warmer side, and I don’t have AC, so hopefully it’s not too bad
Finished:
Two Can Play-this romcom romance was really fun, classic Ali Hazelwood, just wish it was a full length book
-no prompt
Good at Being Alive-a romance from netgalley where the both of the couple are working through a lot of grief while in a ridiculous situation. I had a really good time with this one, I need to read more from the author
-#15 about new beginnings
Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones-book 2 of the series, I thought this was cute
-no prompt
Currently reading:
The Geomagician-finally getting back to this, I really like this I don’t know why I keep putting it off
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson-I’m really liking this biography on Marsha P Johnson, you can tell the author really cares about Marsha and there are so many interviews included from Marsha and her friends
QotW:
I can’t think of anything recently, but when I was a kid I wanted to be the main character in No Flying in the House so badly. All I wanted was to be able to kiss my elbow and be able to fly with a tiny dog and cat.
I finished The Forgotten as the first of my two books written by a real life couple. A little undewhelming, but not terrible.I am now reading The Paradise Problem as my book with a married couple who isn't having sex. Not loving it, but actually liking it more than I thought I would. I could not find anything I really wanted to read for this category.
QOTW: That is an excellent question. I'm not going to count characters based on real people. Doing a quick scan of recently read books, this is probably weird to say since I'm so much older than her, but Hermione from Harry Potter. She's smart, she's moral, she's a good friend, and she's got drive.
PS: 27/4052: 23/52
Anti-capitalist: 20/30
Finished: Remaking Democracy: How We Make the Worlds We Want I've been looking forward to this coming out for years. I still need to process more since I did not do the exercises during this first read. But it was so fun to be so familiar with the concepts and the people involved with this project!
The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary Terry Tempest Williams is one of our elders. It felt important to attend her book reading. I was also somewhat jealous of this book because she can write about whatever she wants to!
Take It from Me: An Agent's Guide to Building a Nonfiction Writing Career from Scratch Finally! And updated book of advice of publishing in a nonfiction field. This book was alternately inspiring and overwhelming.
Traversal I've also been looking forward to this coming out for a long time. But Maria Popova's essays read better than her books.
Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights
The Lost Story]
Started: Models of Democracy
Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology
QotW: Stargirl. I want to be unafraid to be myself and as friendly as her.
Happy Thursday!It was spring here earlier and now we've had freezing rain and we're getting a ton of snow this weekend.
I finally finished my Tolkien book! This was the first of my attempts to read the oldest book on either of my TBR list. It was a great read, but not an easy read.
I am back on track with my PS prompts as movie prompts, but I have no idea what to watch for movie about a sexless marriage. Anyone have any good or creative ideas?
Finished:
The Book of Lost Tales 1
Popsugar prompt: A book you were hoping would fit into a prompt but doesn't
ATY prompt: A book you've wanted to read for a long time
Series - 2/12
Number 1s - 1/10
Nobel laureates - 0/5
Rocky Horror challenge: 2/12
PS - 9/30
ATY - 9/45
PS movies - 9/50
Currently reading:
Quo Vadis - 50%
Last Stand of Dead Men - 25%
Cross Roads - 40%
PopSugar movies
7 A movie about a granny hobby - The Thursday Murder Club
QOTW: I'm not sure. Maybe Anne Shirley/Blythe - she never lost her creativity or sense of wonder at the world.
What a wild weather week we've had! We went from temperatures around 80 earlier in the week to thunderstorms and tornado watches yesterday to all four seasons (just about) in one day today! When I left the house this morning, it was around 70 but the cold winds were already picking up, along with some light rain. We had full on snow for several hours this afternoon (it looked like a snow globe)...and it actually stuck to the grass and vehicles. It's now in the 30s. I hope the cherry blossom trees survive the wild swings! 🌸And now onto the reading update...I finished a book today (haven't updated my GR status yet!) but couldn't find a prompt for it (I did consider the Olympic sport prompt but skiing isn't my favorite). I'm at 6/40 and 0/10 for this challenge and 10/75 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge.
Finished:
* One by One written by Ruth Ware and narrated by Imogen Church. While I deduced the whodunit pretty early on, I could not put this one down because I wanted to find out the whydunit. Really enjoyed the narration!
Currently Reading:
* The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries edited by Michael Sims;
* All Fours by Miranda July;
* Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach;
* Strange Weather in Tokyo written by Hiromi Kawakami and translated by Allison Markin Powell;
* The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins, which is a book club pick for April; and,
* Why We Click: The Emerging Science of Interpersonal Synchrony by Kate Murphy.
QotW:
This week's question was suggested by Brandon:
What is a character (or real person if non-fiction) from a book that you would like to be more like? For fiction, I'd probably say Maggie Hope for being brilliant, bold, and brave...and having fabulous style. And so many real-life women whose biographies I've read over the years for paving the way for future generations of women - too many to name! 💃🏼
Denise wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "One of the people is Eleanor Roosevelt. Everything I've ever read about her, she was a very inspiring person to me. If I didn't dislike the name Eleanor so m..."Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "One of the people is Eleanor Roosevelt. Everything I've ever read about her, she was a very inspiring person to me. If I didn't dislike the name Eleanor so much, I would have nam..."
I knew a girl named Kyle. She didn't go by it, but I don't remember what she did use.
My grandmother's name is Frances, and while it is fine on her, I couldn't pass that on, either (her father was Francis, the male spelling, and the great grandfather who we all thought was born on Christmas). Actually, thinking about it, I don't know if I could name my child after someone I know/knew. Seems like too much baggage or pressure or something. But I guess all names have some history. I really like the name Anastasia. To me, it's the Russian princess killed in the Russian Revolution. But while I was looking up names for my kiddo, I learned (having never read the books) that it was the name of the FMC in 50 Shades of Grey! Yikes! Wouldn't want people to think me and her father got "inspired" by the books!! ;)
K.L. wrote: "Good morning, everyone! Happy Thursday!I’m currently 4 days into my first food elimination trial, and I think it’s safe to assume that my hives were being caused by a wheat allergy. After startin..."
Glad you're getting some relief! Good luck with the diet, I think there's at least more choices out there than there used to be even a decade or so ago.
Hello and happy Thursday from a suddenly chilly again Columbus! Not loving the dip in temp but I am pleased to say I finally have a car and am free to go around about as I please. My son is healing up nicely from his not-quite appendectomy, so things are finally starting to level out a bit. Finished:
The Second Death of Locke for one of the Goodreads bookmarks. Romantasy isn’t entirely my thing but this was pretty good, I think because the romance wasn’t the sole focus. I didn’t entirely understand how the magic worked in this universe but I liked the book enough that I’ll read the sequel if I remember.
Dumplin' not for the challenge, just a quick reread. I wonder if I was in a really great place mentally when I read this book the first time because something about picking it back up filled me with warm fuzzies. This is a really fun, cute book.
Puddin' reread the former because I was reading this for the non weight loss prompt. I’m glad this book branched out and gave us the perspective from both a likable and unlikable characters’ perspective.
Currently Reading:
The Count of Monte Cristo
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Great Adventure Catholic Bible
Recently Watched:
Still working on the Monster: Ed Gein show, and I also watched All the Pretty Horses.
QOTW:
Someone super rich? I’ve always been enamored with the idea of Ashley Cordova from Night Film. Everyone who meets me is drawn to me? I’m super smart and talented with an air of mystery? I know she doesn’t end up having the best fate but I love the way she left such a huge impact on everyone around her.
2025 Challenges:
Popsugar - 7/40; 0/10
Read Harder - 5/24
Classics - 1/12
European Tour - 3/10
12 Friends - 8/12
Yearly Goal - 28/180
PopSugar 18/50AtY 20/50
Finished:
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston On audiobook. For #13, a book featuring a character with a hidden past
Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar for #10 a book about a horse or with a horse on the cover.
The First Witches Club by For AtY, a book written in 2026
Currently Reading:
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – For #43, two books written by real-life partners or spouses.
Die Strasse Nach Roswell by Connie Willis This is going to take months, but I’m going to get it done. Yeah, I might not even finish it this year ☹
The Waste Lands by Stephen King
QOTW
Kinsey Millhone, except she's stuck forever in the 80's. Love that girl. I couldn't read the last book, knowing there would be no more. I hope she had a graceful ending.
Life update: Our house will go up on the market this weekend, and we have half a dozen viewings arranged and travel and accommodation booked for the week of 23rd March in the town we want to move to. The most encouraging thing is that one of the estate agents told us that essentially the entire estate where our first choice is located will be coming on the market in the next few weeks, so there will be plenty of options for us. It seems changes to rental legislation here have made the estate unprofitable for landlords, who are selling up as a result. It also means that we would be able to buy chain-free, which in turn makes us more attractive to potential buyers of our current house!Reading update: I finished two books this week, both for Women's History Month:
Red Pockets: A Tale of Inheritance, Ghosts and the Future. This turned out to work for the zodiac prompt, as several Chinese zodiac signs or related animals are mentioned, including mine (the rooster). I also used it for Anti-Capitalist Inspiration: concerned with the environment. 5 stars.
FALLOUT: A Novel. NetGalley; no prompt. A sharp portrait of 1980s activist politics in the UK, although many of the issues will be familiar elsewhere too. 4 stars.
Stats:
Popsugar: 1 this week, 19/50 total
Diversity Challenge: 0 this week, 3/14 total
Touch the Rainbow, Read the Rainbow: 0 this week, 5/13 total
Queer Reads Bracket Challenge: 0 this week, 4/7 total
Flowers for Your Shelves: 0 this week, 1/22 total
German Challenge: 0 this week, 6/10 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, 5/21 total
Anti-Capitalist Inspiration: 1 this week, 16/30 total
Reading About Writing: 0 this week, 3/40 total
All books finished this year: 2 this week, 35 total
DNF or paused this year: 0 this week, 5 total
Challenges completed this year: 0
Challenges in progress (end date in 2026): 4
Challenges in progress (no end date): 7
Currently reading:
Waiting on a Friend - NetGalley, Women's History Month, no prompt. I just read the opening chapter so far, and damn, it goes hard (and for all the right reasons)
Ride the River- audiobook, no prompt
Meditate with the Master by Swami Chinmayananda. I paused this last year because I couldn't see how to fit the exercises into my schedule. Now that I'm retired, I figure it's time to try again. No prompt.
Introduction to Curling Strategy - Winter Olympics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values - either "starts with Z" or "dad as primary caregiver"
THE COMPLETE MAHABHARATA SABHA PARVA AND VANA PARVA VOL 2: Sabha Parva and Vana Parva - spiritual reading, no prompt
QOTW: Probably Maya Greenwood from Starhawk's trilogy of novels. And since Maya is based on Starhawk herself, I guess that's a way of saying I'd like to be more like Starhawk. I admire her courage and her activism. She was lovely when I met her in person, too.
Happy Friday! Had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday, I met my sister somewhere halfway our homes. We knew it was beautiful there from childhood holidays. What we didn't expect was such a variety: heathland, pine trees, drifting sand and even juniper bushes. And then, suddenly, those terribly ugly power lines. Besides that, we had a wonderful walk and talk. And finished it with a big ice cream at the best ice cream chain in our region. Read this year: 12
PS: 8/40
Finished this week: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
#24 (Fliss is struggling after the birth of her daughter)
QOTW:
As a child, I wanted to be Laura Ingalls. And Marieke (from De drieling Janneke, Ineke en Marieke, a series I loved). I honestly can't remember why. Now I'm older, I know that every character has its downsides. Like me. But I still do like strong female characters with ambition.
We had a bizarre warm spell here: multiple days in a row with temperatures near 70F! The only snow left is where big snowbanks were. Since the snow is gone, my snowdrops were finally able to pop up and bloom! Now my backyard is covered in white, but it's flowers, and the bees are happy. Makes me wonder what the bees would eat if I didn't have snowdrops here. There are no native flowers that bloom this early here, but of course honey bees are not native here either (and they did look like honeybees).
I'm all atwitter this morning because a few weeks ago I posted a reply mentioning Night of the Living Rez on reddit, and Morgan Talty replied to me. To ME!!! Gahhhh!!! The post wasn't even about his book, it was about something else, I have no idea how he found it. Happily, "Rez" is one of my favorite books so I only have good things to say about it, so I'm sure he was pleased. But ... It never occurred to me that authors might be on the same social media platforms we are. (Yes I know I've been stupid.) I mean, I know they are sometimes on Goodreads, and on Twitter, but I didn't expect to find them on reddit.
***** Admin stuff *****
The March group read (transgender / non-binary) will be: What Moves the Dead I am leading the discussion - come join us! You can join the discussion here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
The April group read (gardening) will be: The Secret Garden
The May group read (birding) will be: Birding with Benefits
The June group read (influencer) will be: Julie Chan Is Dead
The final poll for July (granny hobby) is coming soon!
Let us know if you'd like to lead any discussions!
This week I finished 1 book, and it was for this Challenge, so I am now 21/50:
One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon - I was excited to read this, because I enjoyed her YA novels, and this is her adult fiction debut. Sadly, it was a swing and a miss. I recommend you skip this book. I read this for "books written by real-life partners" (I'll be reading a book by her husband, David Yoon, later)
Popsugar 42% 21 /50
Must Reads 0% 0 /1
2026 pub 24% 12 /50
NetGalley ratio 78%
Question of the Week
This week's question was suggested by Brandon:
What is a character (or real person if non-fiction) from a book that you would like to be more like?
I have no idea! I'd have to think about this for a long time before coming up with a good answer.
My quick answer is: Dolly in Dolly All the Time. She's living a good life, she's young, beautiful, fit, kind, running a family business in a beach town, and engaged to a gorgeous, wonderful rich guy.
LOL I guess what I'm saying is that I'd like to be younger, so maybe really I want to be in The Picture of Dorian Gray