Bunny’s Comments (group member since Jan 02, 2017)

Bunny’s comments from the A challenge of relative ease and merriment 2017 group.

For what it's worth, I think that "a book you've been meaning to read" would be the better wording!

(I'm biased as heck though because I mostly get my books from the library ;))

Thomas wrote: "- - A book you claim to have read, or discuss like you did, but never have.
:)"

That's an impossible one to fill for some of us - I don't think I've ever done that in my life!

Oh hey, I was totally thinking about this the other day!

- A book with a non-human narrator
- A book published in the year of your birth
- A book with an elderly protagonist
- A book that has been translated into your native language
- A book previously read by someone else doing this challenge (all years)
- An epistolary novel (I think this one would be very interesting)
- A collection of short stories
- A book about music
- A book with a six word title
- A retelling of a fairy tale, fable, or myth

I'm looking forward to seeing the final list!

Did I say the end of October? My how time flies!

Basically everything went to shit in the world in the last week and I reacted by baking, getting sick, and reading a lot. In other words, I'm DONE! \o/

✔️01. a book released in 2017 - Etched in Bone
✔️02. a book written before 1900 - Alice's Adventures In Wonderland ::NEW::
✔️03. a non-fiction book. - Reflections: On the Magic of Writing
✔️04. a kids book - Castle Hangnail ::NEW::
✔️05. a YA novel - Newt's Emerald
✔️06. a book of fantastical fiction - Crosstalk
✔️07. a cozy mystery - Murder With Peacocks
✔️08. a debut novel - Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged
✔️09. a book of poetry or drama - Horoscopes for the Dead
✔️10. a biography/autobiography/memoir - The Princess Diarist
✔️11. a book written by someone under the age of 30 - Dumplin' ::NEW::
✔️12. a media tie-in - The X-Files: Year Zero
✔️13. an LGBTQIA* book - When the Moon Was Ours
✔️14. a book about food - A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table ::NEW::
✔️15. a scary/creepy book - The Haunting of Hill House
✔️16. a book that is part of a series but not the first book - A Symphony of Echoes
✔️17. a Goodreads Choice Awards winner - The Martian
✔️18. a book with an animal on the cover I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats ::NEW::
✔️19. a book mostly set in the desert - Stranger
✔️20. a book that was adapted into a movie - Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into pace






My favorite books that I read for this challenge are Castle Hangnail and Murder with Peacocks, both of which I enjoyed immensely and will be rereading. I also loved A Homemade Life and really enjoyed the Martian, but I'm not as sure that I'll be reading those again. The Haunting of Hill House was amazing and I will 100% not be reading it again any time soon - and if I do I'll make sure to be sober as a priest (which I very much was not the first time I read it - WHOOPS.) There were also a couple of poems in Horoscopes for the Dead (including the title poem) which were well worth the price of admission and I'll be keeping that book around to poke at again later.

Now for the books I did NOT like: I haaaaated When the Moon Was Ours, which means I'm very much in the minority on that one. I guess that particular brand of twee magical realism isn't my thing? A Symphony of Echoes was kind of blah and I won't be reading further in the series - I've already forgotten what happened in that book, which isn't a usual thing for me. I was given I Could Pee On This as a gag gift and 100% the best part of it was the photos - it was just kind of dumb.

Anyway, this challenge was great! I definitely read some stuff in areas I would not otherwise have ventured and seeing everyone else's progress was super fun. I'll definitely be participating in 2018's challenge of relative ease and merriment, should one take place. Oh, and thank you Pocki for running this!

I'm not gonna lie, I spent a lot of time this summer watching old episodes of CSI instead of reading. Whoops. >.>

I'm up to 16/20 though, and I'm in progress on a book written before 1900 - which was a real worry for me, as I find most of the classics to be incredibly boring - and I'm hoping to be done by the end of October!

✔️01. a book released in 2017 - Etched in Bone
02. a book written before 1900
✔️03. a non-fiction book. - Reflections: On the Magic of Writing
04. a kids book
✔️05. a YA novel - Newt's Emerald
✔️06. a book of fantastical fiction - Crosstalk
✔️07. a cozy mystery - Murder With Peacocks
✔️08. a debut novel - Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged
✔️09. a book of poetry or drama - Horoscopes for the Dead ::NEW::
✔️10. a biography/autobiography/memoir - The Princess Diarist
✔️11. a book written by someone under the age of 30 - Dumplin' ::NEW::
✔️12. a media tie-in - The X-Files: Year Zero
✔️13. an LGBTQIA* book - When the Moon Was Ours
14. a book about food
✔️15. a scary/creepy book - The Haunting of Hill House
✔️16. a book that is part of a series but not the first book - A Symphony of Echoes
✔️17. a Goodreads Choice Awards winner - The Martian
18. a book with an animal on the cover
✔️19. a book mostly set in the desert - Stranger
✔️20. a book that was adapted into a movie - Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into pace

Well, since April I've dusted off 3 more categories, bringing me to 14/20 done. I have been reading but most of the things I've been consuming don't fit the challenges! *shakes fist* I'll get there though! :D

✔️01. a book released in 2017 - Etched in Bone
02. a book written before 1900
✔️03. a non-fiction book. - Reflections: On the Magic of Writing ::NEW::
04. a kids book
✔️05. a YA novel - Newt's Emerald
✔️06. a book of fantastical fiction - Crosstalk
✔️07. a cozy mystery - Murder With Peacocks
✔️08. a debut novel - Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged
09. a book of poetry or drama
✔️10. a biography/autobiography/memoir - The Princess Diarist
11. a book written by someone under the age of 30
✔️12. a media tie-in - The X-Files: Year Zero
✔️ 13. an LGBTQIA* book - When the Moon Was Ours ::NEW::
14. a book about food
✔️15. a scary/creepy book - Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints
✔️16. a book that is part of a series but not the first book - A Symphony of Echoes
✔️17. a Goodreads Choice Awards winner - The Martian
18. a book with an animal on the cover
✔️19. a book mostly set in the desert - Stranger ::NEW::
✔️20. a book that was adapted into a movie - Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space

Well, April was almost as bad as March for me and I spent most of it dealing with dental issues and sleeping. >.< That said, I did manage to tick off a few more categories - including Media Tie-in, which I had been struggling with!

a media tie-in - The X-Files: Year Zero isn't something I would normally ever read, but it was certainly quick to get through (5 floppies = slim trade) and I do love me some Dana Scully.

a book that is part of a series but not the first book - A Symphony of Echoes is the second book in the Chronicles of St. Mary's, a series that takes place at a historical institute dedicated to time travel. It's sort of reminiscent of Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel series, but lacking in her distinctive tone and humor. I'm enjoying them well enough to continue on to the next book, but I'm also hoping that the author scales back the relationship misunderstandings and dramatics. I'm much more interested in time travel hijinks than arguments between lovers!




11/20 done and dusted

Rebecka, I can certainly do that! I just scanned through your goodreads reviews/rankings and I get the sense that you tend to prefer more serious and literary books. As such, I'm mostly going to steer clear of the many, many twee and cute cozy mystery series out there. Some of these recommendations fall smack dab in the middle of the "cozy" category, and some of them are a bit more on the edge - but they all hit several of the defining criteria.

1, You've already dipped your toe into Dame Agatha's works, and if you enjoyed her writing style you might very well want to try her best known cozy series and go for something from The Complete Miss Marple Collection, which are all very good. (That said, my favorite of hers is The Secret of Chimneys, which isn't properly any part of a series.)

2. Murder With Peacocks is somehow both the epitome of a cozy mystery and also less a mystery and more of a screwball comedy with some beats that could be lifted straight from a 1930s film with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It may not be to your tastes, but it's very near and dear to my heart and I couldn't not include it here.

3. A Nun in the Closet is very possibly my Grandmother's favorite book of all time and is one that left me crying with laughter the first time I read it. First published in 1975 it very much reflects the era in which it was written in the best way possible and the characters are just fantastic.

4. And now we stray just slightly to the outskirts of the cozy category with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Precious Ramotswe may be a professional lady detective working in Botswana, but she's very clearly the literary and spiritual descendant of the Miss Marples of the mystery universe. This series is fantastic and has won a significant amount of critical and literary acclaim since this book was released in 1998.

5, Finally, I give you Crocodile on the Sandbank. Another older book (I know, I have a weakness) from the 70s (but set in the 1890s), this series centers itself around Amelia Peabody, a strong-willed, sarcastic, self-proclaimed spinster, with a passion for Egyptology. Amelia is a fantastic character (more interesting than likable, which is how I like them!) and the author had a Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago - and believe me, you can tell that she loves the subject as much as her characters do.

I do hope this helps! If nothing here sounds interesting I can try again. :)

Rebecka - I know this may be me being pedantic, but I honestly don't think that And Then There Were None is a cozy mystery. I mean, Christie certainly wrote cozies - the Miss Marple books are some of the earliest cozies written! - but that particular book doesn't seem to hit the perimeters of what a cozy is.

Cozy mysteries are a sub-genre that feature amateur sleuths, minimal violence & sex, and usually take place in a small and relatively tightly knit community setting - like a village or small town. Typically they feature a significant cast of supporting characters, and often those supporting characters provide comedic relief.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_my...

And Then There Were None, while an excellent mystery and a cracking good read, is far more grim than cozy!

(And now I've written the word "cozy" so many times in this very short comment that it has stopped making sense!)

Ooof, it's been a slow couple of months for me. I've been ill twice and a bit off since early February with nothing really tempting me to read it. Still! I've made a bit of progress.

Yay progress! I'm also super delighted by how well I'm maintaining my ratio of new reads/new authors with rereads. :D

a book released in 2017
a book written before 1900
a non-fiction book
a kids book
a YA novel
a book of fantastical fiction (fantasy/scifi/paranormal)
a cozy mystery
a debut novel
a book of poetry or drama (that is to say a play, not just ~dramatic~)
a biography/autobiography/memoir
a book written by someone under the age of 30
a media tie-in (clarification in a thread)
an LGBTQIA* book
a book about food
a scary/creepy book
a book that is part of a series but not the first book (could be a later released prequel though)
a Goodreads Choice Awards winner (any year, any category)
a book with an animal on the cover
a book mostly set in the desert
a book that was adapted into a movie

I could technically cross off a couple more, but I feel weird using three books from the same series to fill in categories. I want variety, dang it! Hopefully I've kicked off my slump for now - I've got a backlog of books downloaded to read or listen to, just waiting for me to feel int he right mood.

Darth Olive wrote: "Bunny: Ignore me if you're all set with that answer, but if I may, what are your fandoms? Not that I'm super well-versed in tie-ins, esp. non-SF/F, but I'd love to suggest stuff, if I can (but IMO ..."

Hallo from one Bunny to another! Right at the moment I'm between fandoms, but I still read fic for Smallville, Harry Potter, Leverage, Generation Kill, One Direction, and a bunch of misc smaller fandoms. Yuletide is my favorite time of the year because there's suddenly fanfic for things like Georgette Heyer's novels and the Chrestomanci series. :D

As far as I can see most of the tie-in novel series are for things like Star Wars and Star Trek, and that's just not my jam. I mean, don't get me wrong! I enjoyed ST:TNG growing up and I've seen a bunch of the Star Wars movies, but ultimately I'm always going to be more interested in knowing about the costume design and world building for those movies than more about those stories.

I asked a bunch of friends to keep an eye out for me and their suggestions range from a book of essays on the Wire to trying the media tie-in novels for Psych. I might do that latter since I did enjoy that show whenever I happened to catch an episode, but I wasn't a serious enough viewer to be annoyed by characterization discrepancies the way I was with the Leverage ones.

(I think one of the ways that fanfic works better for me than those novels did is that fic assumes that you know the characters and doesn't rehash things like "this is who X is and what they do and how they relate to character Y." I find that sort of thing tiresome at the best of times. :/)

Alright, so I have a question about media tie-ins and since it seems like this is a discussion that's happening here and now I figure why not throw it into the mix?

What would you suggest as a media tie-in read for someone who has no interest whatsoever in reading science fiction tie in novels? Or tie-in novels at all, I suppose. (That's why I read fanfic. Which is free and from my experience frequently considerably better quality than official tie-ins.) Would a collection of essays about the show qualify? An art book? A cookbook inspired by the show?

Basically, halp please?

Yay progress! I'm also super delighted by how well I'm maintaining my ratio of new reads/new authors with rereads. :D

a book released in 2017
a book written before 1900
a non-fiction book
a kids book
a YA novel
a book of fantastical fiction (fantasy/scifi/paranormal)
a cozy mystery
a debut novel
a book of poetry or drama (that is to say a play, not just ~dramatic~)
a biography/autobiography/memoir
a book written by someone under the age of 30
a media tie-in (clarification in a thread)
an LGBTQIA* book
a book about food
a scary/creepy book
a book that is part of a series but not the first book (could be a later released prequel though)
a Goodreads Choice Awards winner (any year, any category)
a book with an animal on the cover
a book mostly set in the desert
a book that was adapted into a movie

I don't know how to link to the little pictures of the covers, alas, but I'm making decent progress on my challenge!

a book released in 2017
a book written before 1900
a non-fiction book
a kids book
a YA novel
a book of fantastical fiction (fantasy/scifi/paranormal)
a cozy mystery
✔️ a debut novel - Sofia Khan is Not Obligated
a book of poetry or drama (that is to say a play, not just ~dramatic~)
✔️ a biography/autobiography/memoir - The Princess Diarist
a book written by someone under the age of 30
a media tie-in (clarification in a thread)
an LGBTQIA* book
a book about food
✔️ a scary/creepy book - Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints
a book that is part of a series but not the first book (could be a later released prequel though)
a Goodreads Choice Awards winner (any year, any category)
a book with an animal on the cover
a book mostly set in the desert
✔️ a book that was adapted into a movie - Hidden Figures

I think the one that's going to be the biggest challenge for me is the winner of the Goodreads awards. :/ I've already read all the ones I'm interested in. Maybe the Martian? I've heard reasonably good things.....

Well, I sort of did this particular bonus challenge backwards :P

I knew as soon as I'd seen the trailer for Hidden Figures that I'd be seeing the movie - and in fact, I've already been to see it twice. I loved the story so much that I wound up reading the book it was based on and loved that too!

For the record, I highly recommend both of them. Five stars all around.

So it strikes me that this might be one of the harder categories to find things that tickle your fancy in & I thought we could maybe start a thread with suggestions - particularly if they're books that we've read in the past and enjoyed!

All the lists I've found so far online tend towards heavier reading, so I'll throw some fun and easy stuff out there:

1. Gordon Korman is a Magical Unicorn whose first book was published at the age of 14. In fact, the first 6 books of the Macdonald Hall series were all published before he turned 30! These are fast reads as they're intended for a middle school reading level, but I'll tell you honestly that I've laughed so hard that I've literally cried over them. There's a reason why the first 4 books have a 4+ star rating on Goodreads - they really are that fun! (Everything Korman wrote up to 1994 counts)

2. One of my all-time favorite authors Georgette Heyer was first published at age 19! I'll admit, I don't think much of that book, but three of my absolute favorites of hers These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, and The Masqueraders were all written before she turned 30.

3. If you dig into the Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events when it comes out later this month and find yourself having a good time in spite of all the unfortunate events, well, celebrate! The first three books were all published when the author was under 30!

4. If you're a fan of straight up ridiculousness and shenanigans in space, might I recommend checking out Douglas Adams's terribly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy? The first two books were written before he was 30. <3

5. For something completely different, the first two collections of Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes and Something Under the Bed is Drooling) were both published before Bill Watterson, the artist and author, turned 30. This is my absolute favorite comic strip of all time and it's not nearly as widely known these days as it should be! (Actually, this might not count as it's not an actual novel. Bah, humbug, you should read them anyway. :P)

No, no, don't be silly. Butterflies are clearly mushrooms! :P

Two quick questions!

1. For the a book that was adapted into a movie category does it matter how old the movie is?

2. When you say a kids book, how are you defining that? Aimed at a younger audience than YA? Picture book? Something you would read to a child? Any or all of the above?

Oh gosh! Books about food are so great. Here's five non-fiction recommendations! :D

1. American Pie is about a French-American woman journalist who roadtrips across the United States twice in search of Pie. Along the way she meets a really wide sampling of Americans who have strong feelings about pie, which happens to be my favorite dessert. This book is fun and an easy read, and if you happen to be interested in baking pie it also has some great recipes! (I tend to reread this book once a year or so, just before Thanksgiving.)

2. Cookoff: Recipe Fever in America is a look into the frankly kind of bizarre world of competitive amateur cooking contests in the United States. It's a little bit dated now, but it's highly entertaining and has a cast of real characters.

3. The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater Now I don't know who Nigel Slater is (other than kind of pretentious) but he has a real gift for writing about food. This book is straight up what it says on the tin: a diary about the food he ate over a year. It's certainly not going to be for everyone, but some of the descriptions of the food and the environment it's made and eaten in are honestly beautiful. I read this book in 10 to fifteen minute nibbles just before bed and it was so soothing and delicious.

4. Ruth Reichel's memoirs about growing up with food (Tender at the Bone and Comfort me with Apples) were some of the first books I read in the genre and they made me hungry for more. They're sort of melancholy, sort of slow, but man, she loves food and she'll make you love food too. Garlic and Sapphires is a very very fun read about her time as the food critic for the New York Times and the disguises she came up with to do her job.

5. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food is allllmost a microhistory of American Chinese Food, but it throws some curves at you - for example, the author decides to try and find the best Chinese food restaurant in the world. It could have used a tighter edit, I won't lie, but I found the book fascinating from the first page. "Chinese" food is my second favorite variety of food (after Indian) and I really loved learning about how it evolved from actual Chinese cuisine!

Heyo! I'm Bunny. I'm from a little town in California - about a half hour east of the capital and 2 hours east of San Francisco (hi Jenny! I'm in Auburn, if you know where that is!) - and I just found this challenge by random and accident - but it looks like fun! I used to be a big reader (worked in little bookshops, read 300 books a year, that sort of thing) but have sort of slowed down in the past decade or so - real life and fanfic both diverted my attention away from books :(.

I did manage to complete my 2016 challenges though! I managed 136 books with several subchallenges just to push my reading habits, and yes, I totally finished my last book with just hours on the countdown clock! That said, I also apparently read 17 or so of the challenges set *here* for 2016 and am taking that as a sign that this is a place i should be!

I mostly read YA, mystery, and fantasy, but I do dearly love a micro-history. I also read a LOT of books about food (like, 6 or 7 of the 12 nonfiction books I read last year were about food!) and man, I'll probably read more than required in that category this year. :D If anyone wants reccomendations there, I'm super happy to help!

I did learn this last year that i don't much like ~space opera~ style science fiction and i tend to not like classics or contemporary literature very much either, which is kind of funny to me since I read a lot of sci-fi as a teenager. Hey, I guess if our tastes were static our whole lives it would get a bit boring. :P