Janice’s Comments (group member since Dec 01, 2022)

Janice’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

Hello friends!

Do you ever feel all over place with when it comes to your theme reading? I, of course, love all the witchy titles that are perfect for October. There are so many of them still on the stack beside my bed that I will be reading them well into the month of November. On top of that I’ve started re-listening to some of my favorite holiday novels at the same time whenever my holds for them come available on the Libby app.

I wanted to let everyone know that there will be a new challenge for the month of November you can participate in in addition to the Book-A-Week challenge. This one is a genre-based challenge, and you will automatically be entered into a prize drawing just for participating. Let me know if you have any questions.

Happy reading!

-Janice

Hello all!

The 4th quarter Take It Or Leave It Challenges will be live tomorrow.

Some of them include a biography/memoir, a book with leaves on the cover, and something recommended by a librarian.

Don’t forget to stop by our Online Book Club to discuss this quarter’s titles.

Happy Cozy Reading Season!

-Janice

Hi Friends!

I hope you are all adjusting to the back-to-school season, whether for yourselves or your family!!

I just wanted everyone to know that there is a Back To School Online Resources challenge available on Beanstack. It is an activity-based challenge using a bingo card to track your progress. There are 9 activities revolving around Chesapeake’s Public Library’s online resources. These resources that will help you or those you know in the upcoming school year or just for fun all year round.

Get a straight bingo either a column, row, or diagonal to be automatically entered into a raffle for a technology prize pack.

Let me know if you have any questions about the challenge!

-Janice

ohhh...this this a Court of Thorns and Roses read-a-like?

Katy wrote: "I'm continuing on with The Fae of Bitter Thorn series by Kay Moody."

Hello Friends!

I hope you are all doing well!!

I am enjoying this beautiful sunny, summer weather, now that it has cooled off a little bit. The sunny days has impeding finishing of my summer reading list though.

Have you all been able to avoid the summer reading rut that I seem to be in? Let me know what you are reading this week and if you finished your summer reading goals in the comments below!

-Janice

If you read the first book in a series or specific author that you don’t particularly end up like, do you ever give them a second chance by reading another one?

I’m currently reading The Fury by Alex Michaelides. My book club read The Silent Patient by the same author a few years ago and we had an interesting discussion about it. Most didn’t like it. Something about an unreliable/deceiving narrator.

I’m actually liking The Fury so far. The narrator of this book is upfront about his unreliability. I’m liking the characters and action. But something is telling me that eventually this author is going to let me down with a red herring or ridiculous plot twist.

So, let me know in the comments below if you ever give an author or series a second chance and try to read another?

-Janice

Hello all!

The 3rd quarter Take It Or Leave It Challenges have been updated. Some of them include a historical fiction, a beach read (see my post about the queen/king of the beach reads), a book with a yellow cover, a book about friendship.

Check out our website to view the summer events including an author visit, from rom-com genius Olivia Dade, this Saturday, July 13th.

Happy Summer Reading!

-Janice

Hi all!

I hope the start of your summer has been going well!

Does everyone have their summer reading list ready to go? Here’s mine:

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
2. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
3. Lark & Leather by Brynne Weaver
4. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
5. Verity by Collen Hoover
6. Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood
7. The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin
8. The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas
9. To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn
10. The Boy With the Bookstore by Sarah Echavarre Smith
11. An Enchanting Case of Spirits by Melissa Holtz
12. A Spoonful of Time by Flora Ahn
13. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

I think this is a good mix of new summer releases, my backed-up TBR, and my backed-up library checkouts pile. This doesn’t include all my favorite romances that I’ll be “re-reading” (listening) to during my commutes and lunch break!

Let me know what you are planning on reading this summer!

-Janice

For those of you that don’t know, the Russell Memorial branch has closed for an expansion on it’s children’s area. In addition to that the main area of the library will be getting new carpets, paint, and shelves.

For the mean time, if you are a Russell patron we have a satellite location setup up at the Chesapeake CARES Center at 3490 Airline Boulevard, only four miles down the road from Russell Memorial.

The crew there has really made the space cute and comfy. Services will include holds pickup, a small browsable collection, public computers, copying, scanning, and weekly story times.

Please stop by and visit us this summer!

What I'm reading this week...

Hello all!

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful weather we have been having recently! I am ready for summer and all the beach reads that tend to come out this time of year!!

And by beach read I don’t necessarily mean a book that takes place at the beach or in the summer, but more like an easy, peasy read you can finish in one sitting at the beach or pool or your choice of summer reading spot.

It has long been debated as to which author is the queen or king of the beach read. Some contenders would be Elin Hilderbrand, Dorthea Benton Frank, Jennifer Weiner, James Patterson, Harlan Coben, etc.

Who do you think should be crowned Queen/King of the Beach Read?

I am eagerly awaiting the third season of Bridgerton on Netflix. To fill the time until then I have been working my way through the original source material. I've read and listened to The Viscount Who Loved Me twice this year, breezed through An Offer From a Gentleman last week, and hope to finish Romancing Mr. Bridgerton before Thursday's premiere.

Are there any movie or television shows based on books you are excited to watch this year?

Does anybody else theme read? I was on vacation last week and brought two specific titles with me: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell and Poor Unfortunate Soul by Serena Valentino. Can you guess where I went based on the titles?

The next two books I plan to read...

Did you all know that there are other monthly challenges available to you on Beanstack? This month we are doing a challenge working toward a community goal. We are challenging everyone to read two books this month to help us reach our community goal of 1,000 books. Two lucky readers will win a prize bundle. Complete a BINGO (across, down, or diagonal) to be entered for a chance to win.

Please join the challenge to help us reach our goal! In the comments below tell me what two books you plan to read this month?

What I'm reading right now...

Hello everyone!

I truly intended to post more in the first quarter, but alas, I failed. I will try to do better this quarter.

Tell me all about what you have been reading since the beginning of the year. I’ve truly enjoyed re-reading some of my favorite titles. I was never able to get into audiobooks until I started listening to books I’ve already read.

What were your favorite challenges from the 1st quarter? I enjoyed the second chance challenge; it forced me to dive into my never-ending TBR pile and finally finish something I meant to read last year.

This quarter’s take-it-or-leave-it challenges have been added. Some include books about nature, Asian Pacific American Heritage month, sci-fi, and more.

You're welcome! There will be new ones each quarter!!

Susan wrote: "Thanks for the take it or leave it challenges!"

Thanks, Lyn!

This year’s challenge is up and running! No need to create a new account. Simply log on with your current credentials and register for the new challenge. As Joanna mentioned in her last post, the challenge name has been changed to Book a Week, but the premise is still the same. We strive to read one book a week for the entire year!

There are also new take-it-or-leave-it activity badges you can earn each quarter. Some for this first quarter include books with a winter setting, favorite book of a series, and a cozy mystery just to name a few. Again, these are activities you don’t have to complete to finish the challenge, but just something fun to throw in the mix in case we get in a reading rut and need new ideas!

Happy New Year and happy new reads to everyone!!

Links

1. Beanstack - https://chesapeake.beanstack.com/read...
2. Online Book Club - https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
3. Library Website - https://www.chesapeakelibrary.org/

Trying to finally finish The Selection series. Also re-reading (listening to) The Love Hypothesis. Hoping to start the Twisted Tales series this holiday weekend.