Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

It's another fabulous Thursday check-in! How are things in your world today? School starts next week so this morning is orientation for my daughter (she's moving up to middle school). A good excuse to take the morning off of work :)

Nominations are open for October's group read - a book with a mythical creature. You can go here to add your suggestion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

On to my weekly reading update!

I finished two books this week:

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux – this was an enjoyable read for someone as familiar with the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. It was interesting to pick out all the shared details of the story and to find the details that did not make it into the musical or had changed. I listened to the audio version with Ralph Cosham. This does not fit a prompt for me.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden – I loved this book. It is based on a Russian fairytale (and I do love my fairytales).

Books in progress:

I started Three Sisters, Three Queens by Phillipa Gregory on audio. I haven't really settled on my next print book yet.

Question of the week:

From Juanita, my dear co-moderator

What are some books that have had a hard impact on you?

I'm going to have to think on this one and report back later :)

Good morning! I can't believe it's Thursday again already!

I finished two books this week, neither for the Challenge, so I'm still 51/52. So close, yet not quite!! (The 52nd book, Tuesdays at the Castle, is a short one, too, so I'll finish it in no time, but we own it, so it's getting lower priority than the pile of library books I have waiting for me.)

Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger which is book 2 in the series. This was our family roadtrip book! Which meant that I often lost details of the plot since other stuff was going on in the car, but this is one of the books where it doesn't matter, it's just silly fun. My kids hate audiobooks, which is unfortunate, but my older daughter did say that this story sounded interesting and she may pick up the paper book someday when she's done with all the books she's currently wanting to read.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - this is one of those books where the hype is correct! This was so much fun, and I never quite knew where the plot was going next. (Probably only for sci-fi fans, however.) I admit to being surprised by the ending. I'll definitely continue with the series, but I'm a little afraid, because the first book was so good, can the second book measure up?

QOTW
I'm not sure what "hard impact" means? Does that mean upsetting? or memorable? or something else?

For "upsetting" I can say the book I am reading right now qualifies: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. I had NO IDEA how awful things were in this country right after the Civil War. In school they just sort of taught us "and then there was Reconstruction! And carpetbaggers! and then came WWI!" and they completely skipped over how horribly racist our government was. Even President Lincoln was racist, he wanted to get rid of all black people in the country and send them to someplace in South America. And President Johnson did NOTHING to help black people - the "Black Codes" written into state laws in the south after the War were completely oppressive, and he just let it happen; encouraged it, even. The atrocities immediately after the Civil War were just as awful as atrocities during slavery, and I did not know that.

Happy Thursday!
My 11 month old is sick with a throat and maybe sinus infection and is on abx, poor baby. So I thought I'd finish tig notaro's book but I'm left with a bit more.
I did finish Trafficked by Sophie Hayes. I managed to put it into a book with subtitle.

I've got a couple on the docket that don't fit any categories so I'm a little worried but I'm at 30 I think finished so a little behind but still on track.

QOTW:
Not sure how to answer this. There have been books that have made me angry (Killers of the flower moon), parts of books that have really stuck with me in a scarring way (the baby in Girl on the Train) and books that have changed the way I see the world (the Dorito effect, so you've been publicly shamed). All of those are hard hitting in some way.

It was a slow reading week for me. I thought I would make a lot of progress since I wasn’t traveling, but I ended up with plans for most of the weekend and several of the weeknights. Later today I’m flying to Denver to hang out with my sister & her kids for the weekend—I also get to take them to their first day of school Monday!—so I doubt I’ll get much reading time in this weekend. And I just realized that my flight home isn’t until Monday late afternoon, so I’ll get a better view of the eclipse. Another bonus!

I’m still at 33/40, 8/12 or 41/52. Based on the list of books I still need to read this month for other commitments, I doubt I’ll make any more progress on this challenge until September. I need to get it together!

I read:
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I am in the "meh" camp on this one.

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay. Her essays are thought-provoking, raw and real. I think she is brilliant, but for me, I enjoy reading them a couple at a time instead of all in succession.

Christmas Bliss by Mary Kay Andrews. This is part of a light-hearted series about a couple of ladies in Savannah, GA. It was enjoyable and made me feel like I was checking in on old friends. It wasn't really about Christmas. It just took place then.

I am currently reading:
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand. One of the side characters in The Rumor, which I read a couple of weeks ago, is a MC in this one. This book’s timeline comes before The Rumor.
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies by J.B. West. This was written back in 1973. West was an usher in the White House for nearly 30 years, taking care of everything to do with the First Ladies during that time.
The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane. I love this so far.

QOTW: Hmmm...good question! I'll have to think about this, but off the top of my head I would say Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption both had a big impact. Under the Banner of Heaven was frightening because this man used God as the reason why he murdered his family. Unbroken, simply because of the resilience of one man. Also, I read Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders years ago, but it still freaks me out because of how manipulative Charles Manson was.

Hi folks!

Quick post from me. I finished two books I really enjoyed this week.

The first is The Summer Before the War. It was a WWI novel and I am using it for "season in the title." It was a lovely story of a family and a small town in Sussex before and at the onset of the First World War. (OK, autocorrect just capitalized that term without my permission.)

The second was Labor Day by Joyce Maynard for "holiday other than Christmas." I took this recommendation from the prompt thread. This was a great story told by an adolescent boy and was made into a film with Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. I haven't seen the movie but will look for it now.

That brings me to 28/40 and 3/12. Picking up the pace now.

Question of the Week
Yes, I saw this question on a blog and had an immediate reaction to it. I read She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb about 20 years ago and it really did me in. I was very depressed after reading it and have never read another Lamb book since.

Also Push by Sapphire was a very hard read and blackened my mood for several days.

Bonjour,

School is starting in two weeks for my sons (first time for the little one) and school is starting monday at my job, so I should have less free time.

I wasn't planning on doing the Advanced challenge, but it is going so well that I may fill a few prompts later in the year. I am now at 32/40.

I finished The Martian Chronicles for the book on my TBR since I can't remember when. It could have stay there. I didn't like it and I am a fan of older science fiction. I didn't like Fahrenheit 451 also, so I may have a thing against Bradbury's writing.

I am now reading The Princess Bride for a story within a story. This is so good. Almost the same as the movie and since I saw it countless time, I picture those characters while reading. I could have finish it few days ago, but I like it too much to end. And I will have to watch the movie again soon.

QOTW: I'm not really sure what hard impact mean. I may come back later to answer that one.

Fannie, i agree on Ray Bradbury! I hated Fahrenheit 451 so much, I probably will never read another book by him.

Hello All!!

I've had a pretty great reading week. Not a lot going on and was able to get four books read (or listened to) this week.

I'm now at 29/40 (and thinking of doing the advanced challenge but I do have It on my list to read and I know that one is going to take some time).

Finished:

The Winter People for a book with one of the four seasons in the title. I didn't really know too much about this book going into it. It was recommended on here back in February/March when I was planning out my reading list. I really liked it. It was wonderfully creepy and kept me on the edge of my seat. I really do love a good creepy/scary book.

Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space for a book about an interesting woman. I love the movie and wanted to read the book. I actually did this on audiobook and enjoyed it. They really could do a whole movie series (or tv show) about all of the amazing women who worked at NASA.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis for a book with a subtitle. I also did this on audiobook. I ended up giving this three stars. I liked it but didn't love it. I think it's worth a read. After some time, I might actually bump it up to four stars. It really does make you think.

Caraval for a bestseller from a genre you don't normally read. I don't normally read YA (even though I have added another YA book to my reading list) and I'm not sure if this was a bestseller but I really wanted to read it. I really enjoyed it. It gave me a similar feeling to when I read The Night Circus. I think I read that this is the first of a series, if that's true I'll for sure read the next book.

Currently Reading:

Every Heart a Doorway for the first book in a series you haven't read before. I've been hearing about this for a while so I shuffled a few things around to fit this into a prompt. It's just a novella, so it will be a quick read but I'm looking forward to digging into it.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War for a book of letters. I don't know if it really fits the prompt but I'm saying it does and it's been on my iPad forever and I really want to finally read it.

The Snowman I don't have this in any prompt but I really want to read it. I'm picking it up from the library tonight.

QOTW:
I don't know if any book has really left a hard impact on me (or maybe I'm just not understanding the question). I can remember reading Angela's Ashes as a teen and it pretty much breaking my heart.

Fannie wrote: "Bonjour,

I didn't like Fahrenheit 451 also, so I may have a thing against Bradbury's writing...."

And I see Nadine didn't like it, either! I truly hated that book and thought I was the only person who felt that way. So glad I'm not alone!

Hi, everyone! This check-in totally snuck up on me, and I was shocked when I logged in & saw notifications that people were posting. My son started 5th grade today, so I've been a little preoccupied this week. Thankfully, he is happy & ready to get back to his friends, so it was a good morning. :)

Week 33 - 39/40 & 11/12 (50/52)

Finished
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the illustrated version, by J.K. Rowling for prompt #30, a book with pictures. One of my all-time favorite books, and I enjoyed reading it with my son for the first time. He's a true-blue Potterhead now, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

12 Days at Bleakly Manor by Michelle Griep, not for this challenge. This was an ARC from NetGalley, so I was trying to get it read before it got swiped back from me.

Oh, I almost forgot that I also read/listened to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis with my son on a road trip we took over the weekend. This was also not for a prompt, just for fun. He read along in the book in the car, while I just listened, but when we got home, we still had about 30 minutes left, so we sat down on the couch and read along as we listened to the narrator. Somehow, I've never read the Narnia series, but I think we will read the rest of them now, too.

Currently Reading
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama for prompt #3 on the advanced challenge, a book with a family member term in the title. I did make a little progress on it this week, but not much. I am enjoying it though, so maybe I'll get some more read over the weekend, once the back to school chaos has calmed down a bit.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the illustrated version, by J.K. Rowling. This isn't for a prompt, but obviously, since we read the first book, my son was clambering to move on to the second book as quickly as possible. It may be a little more slow-going now that school has started and "one more chapter" won't work on school nights. ;)

I have one book to finish and one book to start & finish to complete this challenge. I can't wait! Hope you are all having a great week, and I'll "see" you again next week!

QOTW
Some of the nonfiction books I've read have been harder than fiction books with worse stuff in them, just because with the nonfiction books, you know those things actually happened to someone. This year, probably the one that stuck with me the most would be The Boy Who Carried Bricks: A True Story by Alton Carter. It was hard seeing what he went through, especially because it happened not two hours away from where I live and he is about my age.

I'm working my way through some books that are taking a while right now, so I've only finished a couple of fluffy romances... one that was cute (Hidden Hearts) and one that enraged me with its toxic masculinity bullshit in the hero (New York, Actually).

Still working on We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, reading an essay every few days. Coates is great but tough to read because he writes so viscerally about race and with everything in the news it just hits harder, so I'm dragging my feet. Also listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire while I make quilts for friends' baby showers, which is a nice way to make the monotonous work go faster!

QOTW: Books about humanity at its worst have really been getting me for the last year with all of the horrible rhetoric and hatred people seem to think is okay to express in 2017. Novels about the Holocaust (Lilac Girls, The Nightingale) racism (The Hate U Give) and nonfiction like Coates really get me and I have to balance them with something light.

Hi everyone! Rainy here in Michigan.

Kind of a slow, rough week. Lots of stuff in the news, making me sad and stressed out. Kinda has left me in a slump.

This week I finally finished The Beauty Myth which left me with a lot of mixed feelings. There's absolutely a lot of things that are still true with how women are treated by society as a whole. However I felt like it needed to be updated for current tone. Not very intersectional, doesn't take the internet into account, no real call to action for HOW to change things etc. Was happy to send the stack of library books back.

Home from the Sea - I needed a mental break so did a re-read of this. I really like the story, I find various shapeshifter myths to be fascinating so I like the whole Selch aspect of the story.

Also read a few comic issues as part of my mental break.

Currently reading Leviathan Wakes. I liked the tv show, but I found it really hard to follow sometimes. This is nice, I'm remembering the show and piecing it together a lot better. The main problem is it doesn't really suit my mood right now, being heavier than I feel like reading. But I was on the wait list for over a month, so I can't just send it back and pick it back up whenever I feel like it. Chances are if I started my hold over later, i'd STILL get it when I wasn't in a mood to read it. Oh well. It's not that it's not enjoyable, I just feel like something lighter right now.

QOTW: I guess i'm not really sure what is meant by "hard" impact. Does that mean bad? disturbing? sad? Or just a strong emotion? The Night Circus is one of my favorite books because of how it makes me feel when I read it. It's lush and beautiful and I always get inspired to make art while I read. (I have a large number of greyscale draiwngs of circus performers laying around)

Dean Koontz' False Memory I ended up DNFing abruptly back in..i don't know, high school? Because I was getting so disturbed by it. Not that it was bad, really, but I just was getting really freaked out at the thought of not being able to trust your own mind due to someone reprograming you.

The Harry Potter books in the sense of becoming a top fandom. I have thrown harry potter parties, and gone to them, identify with a house, gone to London to see Cursed Child performed etc. Stuff I've never done for any other book series.

Good morning!

I always seem to be just a short way from finishing a book on Thursday morning, so once again I'll include my almost finished book this week and say I've read two books because I'll polish off the second one by this afternoon:

Cress. I am really having fun reading the Lunar Chronicles and enjoyed this (#3 in the series) the most so far. Next month I plan to read Winter (#4) for my book longer than 800 pages.

All the Birds in the Sky. The first part of this book was fun to read -- it was creative and different and made me wonder what would happen. But I'm nearing the end and feel like it has been fairly shapeless in terms of plot. Lots of little things happened but it has taken quite awhile to get to the big thing (I don't want to give spoilers). It fits a prompt for another challenge but none of the slots I still have open for this one.

Looking ahead at the prompts I have left, this is what's up in the next several weeks (not that my plans ever change!!):

The Futilitarians: Our Year of Thinking, Drinking, Grieving, and Reading - 51. A book about a difficult topic.

Sherlock: A Study in Pink - 46. A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of (manga, fandom).

The Little Paris Bookshop - 40. A book you've bought on a trip.

Question of the Week
Taking "hard impact" to mean very upsetting, I can think of two books within the last few years that were very troubling to me. The first was Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity which chronicles the horridly desperate lives of the people living there. The second was A Young People's History of the United States, Volume 1: Columbus to the Spanish-American War. I was in tears by the end of the first page when he quoted what Columbus wrote of his first encounter with Native Americans, who had brought him gifts: "With fifty men we could subjugate them and make them do whatever we want." It brought home how we are taught only a certain version of history in school, and that we have left out all the bad things the groups in power have done and ignored contributions by everyone else.

Cheri - now that I've been suitably shocked by the history in White Rage, I've been thinking I should read Zinn's People's History sooner rather than later. I didn't realize there was a "Young People's" edition, too!

Nadine wrote: "Cheri - now that I've been suitably shocked by the history in White Rage, I've been thinking I should read Zinn's People's History sooner rather than later. I didn't realize there was a "Young Peop..."

Hi, Nadine! I had been reading some women's history and was wondering whether school children were being exposed to anything different from what I learned (and didn't learn!) in school. So I went to the library and asked a librarian for help. She came up with this book. I'm sure kids are not reading this in school, but at least there's something available now. I have the adult version on my TBR but haven't read it yet. I think I need to, though, especially with all that's going on politically these days.

Happy Thursday!

This week I made progress on finishing out my Popsugar list... just 4 books to go.

The Song of Achilles counted for a quarterly challenge only, but it was a beautiful book - I loved it! I haven't read the Illiad, but from what I know about it, this is better alternative unless you love reading about battles.

Uncle Vanya I counted for the "family term in title" from the advanced list. It was quick, but I don't think I really "got" it. I also found it hard to get the nuances from a play, since so much is lost in reading rather than watching.

I finished Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself
as my book with pictures. A lovely book, and I hadn't read "Song of Myself" in its entirety before (even though I wrote a term paper invovling it in college!).

Finally, I just this morning finished Ruby, which was up next on my TBR randomizer challenge. It was brutal and heartbreaking, but beautifully written and the last half sailed by. In fact, this book might be a good contender for the QOTW.

Two books I remember as shaking up my view of the world were Lies My Teacher Told Me back in my 20s, and just last summer The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. I love both of them, but "hard" would be a good description. It is hard to force yourself to look at the injustice in society and how we uphold systems that strengthen it.

Cheri wrote: "Hi, Nadine! I had been reading some women's history and was wondering whether school children were being exposed to anything different from what I learned (and didn't learn!) in school. So I went to the library and asked a librarian for help. She came up with this book. I'm sure kids are not reading this in school, but at least there's something available now. I have the adult version on my TBR but haven't read it yet. I think I need to, though, especially with all that's going on politically these days. ..."

Yes I'm pretty sure kids are NOT learning this in school! My daughters are about to enter 6th & 9th grades, and they haven't learned this, just as I didn't when I was in school. Part of it of course is limited classroom time, but that's not the whole reason. I'm educating myself now, then I can pass it on to them

Hi everyone!

I was able to finish one book this week, Before I Fall, which fits the used book sale category. It was one of my many finds at the VNSA book sale this year in Phoenix. It was an interesting read. I'm not a big YA reader, and while I think the book was written well and covers an incredibly important topic for teens - in fact, I think I'm going to give it to my teenage niece and insist she read it - it just wasn't really for me. It was a fast, easy read though, which was nice after taking months to finish my 800 page selection.

I'm now sitting at 48/52.

Currently working on A Man Called Ove (eccentric character) and Snow Crash.

QOTW: The most recent book that had a hard impact on me was A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival. This woman's journey to Sweden from the middle east was one of the most heartbreaking refugee stories I've heard, although I realize there are many with similar (or worse) experiences. It stayed with me for quite awhile afterward though. Aimée & Jaguar: A Love Story, Berlin 1943 (true story, WWII) also left me really sad for awhile, and I'd consider Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith to have a bit of a hard impact as well.

Hi, everyone!! Slow week for me, but what can you do?

I finished only one book, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid for a book about an immigrant or refugee prompt. It is really powerful. I also read Malala's book so it prepared for some of the horrors this author described, the violence and the fear. There was a lot of magical realism, which I've grown to like. All in all, I think it was a very good book and I am very glad I picked it for this prompt.

It brings me to a total of 28/52

I am currently working on The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux and The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, for the mythological creature prompt.

QOTW: The first book that comes to mind is Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by the excellent Roxane Gay. This book had me hooked from the beginning. It was so sad and so intense. She explained also her point of view about physicians and their approach to morbidly obese people and it really got me thinking about my approach, being myself a physician. Anyway, I think about this book all the time.

I'm all finished with the 52, but things I've read since I last popped in include The Refrigerator Monologues (an interesting look at the superhero worlds from a different point of view) and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (generational culture shifts, and the way older women often get pushed out and ignored by society)

QOTW: The book I had for my "difficult topic" was pretty hard hitting. The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple

I'm just old enough to remember the year adults started yelling and getting angry and scary if anyone at summer activities/camps accidentally called our Kool-aid Kool-aid, even though it was the only thing we'd ever called it before that. But we were all too young to have been told what happened, and in the process of hiding the horror of it from us, no-one wanted to explain why it was suddenly a bad thing to say. Eventually we all learned a brief overview of what happened in our high school classes, but reading this was the first time I'd heard most of the story.

I haven’t checked in two, school has started again and my reading time has decreased dramatically ☹.

First, the books that actually fulfill a prompt.

I didn’t tick off any prompts these last couple of weeks.

And books that don’t fulfill a prompt:

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman. I really enjoyed it. It’s about toxic teenage girl relationships but it’s not geared toward the YA crowd.

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler. It’s about curses and carnivals and books and I quite enoyed it and it would work as a book set in two time periods although I’ve already ticked that one off.

QOTW:

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. This book took me awhile to get through and not because it was lengthy but because it was emotionally devastating and I had to stop so often but I also had to know how it turned out.

Hello everybody from dreary Chicago! Seriously, this summer has hardly felt worthy of the name.

This week I read 3 books.

Giant's Bread: This is a book with a large number of unlikeable characters. I am still conflicted as to whether they were meant to be unlikeable or whether I am just too disconnected from the time period and culture of the book for these characters to appeal to me. I did not particularly enjoy it, but it wasn't terrible? I don't know.

Nimona: Such a great standalone graphic novel! There are some tropes for sure, but it still managed to feel fresh and interesting. 5 stars.

Lumberjanes, Vol. 6: Sink or Swim: I liked this much better than the last volume in terms of plot, but I still miss the original art style of the earlier books. Sad that this is the last one for a bit while I wait for the next one to get published.

QOTW: This is a difficult question. Certainly there have been many books that had an impact on my life, and there have been many that I had a strong emotional response to. "Hard" though...Two books come to mind, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple and Matilda Bone, both by Karen Cushman who was a favorite author of mine when I was in middle school. I remember both of these books as having a strong impact on me because I saw myself in the main characters, and not in a good way. Cushman's characters are realistic flawed tween girls and recognizing my own flaws in them was not an easy realization. I didn't reread those books much (if ever), but I still have them.

Nadine wrote: "Good morning! I can't believe it's Thursday again already!

I finished two books this week, neither for the Challenge, so I'm still 51/52. So close, yet not quite!! (The 52nd book,

I couldn't finish Illuminae. It was way too gimmicky for me. If it had just been a straight story I might have enjoyed it but I gave up after about a quarter of the book.

Cheri wrote: "Fannie wrote: "Bonjour,

I didn't like Fahrenheit 451 also, so I may have a thing against Bradbury's writing...."

And I see Nadine didn't like it, either! I truly hated that book and thought I was..."

I agree with you all on the Ray Bradbury front. I was not a fan of Fahrenheit 451 but I seem to remember Something Wicked This Way Comes being enjoyable, but in all honesty I only really remember snippets from each of them

Hi everyone. After not finishing any books last week I've caught up with two finishes this week.

First was Red Seas Under Red Skies. I really enjoyed it, maybe not as much as the first but it was still great. I am so sad that my library doesn't have the third book of the series!

Secondly I finally finished Robinson Crusoe. I started this a few years ago but always lost interest. It starts out interesting enough, which is what kept me going; the hope that it would come back around. (Side note: I would really like to thank whoever invented chapters! The fact that there was no break up in any of the book was really draining). The only other Daniel Defoe I've read is Moll Flanders and this is it's polar opposite. I get that the book was written a really long time ago when attitudes were different but the racism was disgusting and the religious preaching was way too overbearing.

Currently reading: Once Upon a Dream: A Twisted Tale for my book with a subtitle. It's quite silly but in a fun way so enjoying it so far.

QOTW: This is a hard question. I remember just sobbing after I finished The Diary of a Young Girl. That really hit me hard.

The only other one I can think of would be The Bell Jar. That was a case of perfect book at the perfect time for me. I don't think I could ever read the book again because it had such a profound effect on me at that exact time of my life.

This week I finished Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. It is my "book you loved as a child."

I also finished Someday, Someday, Maybe. It is my "book mentioned in another book."

I also read The Book with No Pictures, which is my "book you've read before that never fails to make you smile."

QOTW:

Gone Girl

I needed this book at the time I read it. I needed a book where there wasn't such a clean/clear/happy ending.

Hello people!
The smoke has cleared in Vancouver, and today is a stunner....it is gorgeous and sunny.

I am currently at 32/40 and 1/12

I finished Station Eleven for the book set in different time periods. It's definitely post apocalyptic and a bit scary....but I loved it. SUCH a great read. Beautiful writing, in fact, I rated it five stars.

So, now I'm onto the advanced challenge, for the prompt about a difficult topic. I'm reading In Cold Blood. I've wanted to read this for a long time. I've heard various things about it so far....and the book is off to a slow start. But, it's shelved in True Crime, and I'm pretty sure there is some gruesome stuff coming up.....

QOTW: Books that have stayed with you. Many! Let's see. I read a book a couple of years ago, that I would not forget -- A House in the Sky. I thought about this book for at least a week after I read it. It is the true story of a journalist, who is captured while working. She is held for ransom, and she is held for quite a long time. And also, another one was Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland. Wow. That was an incredible read. I felt like I was those girls who were captured in Cleveland, Ohio.

olá, soon I'll be in holidays. I'm needing them, this week I only read, but not finished A Mulher de Trinta Anos, Is to hot to stay sited reading.

QOTW: many books had marked me, likeTodos Os Nomes, the first book that I read from Saramago; more recently, maybeServidão Humana, that I read for this challenge. Bye.

It's sunny and lovely here in Colorado, my parents are visiting and we could be out doing fun things except... the baby and I have a nasty cold and I'm exhausted from being up all night with her.

Considering we have guests, I've done a fair bit of reading. I finished The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: The Apocalypse Suite - it's an interesting graphic novel. Has a sort of steampunky vibe but the story is about alien/superhero children. I found bits of it a bit confusing but overall it was good. Then I finished City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran. It was a pretty dark listen and I wasn't fond of the narrator but it was quite informative and definitely a different perspective on Iran than used to hearing. Kindred was amazing. So good, so hard to read - timely considering the QOTW.

I'm listening to The Lightning Thief but I haven't settled on a book to read yet. Maybe Woman at Point Zero or Americanah or The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't.

QOTW - Kindred for sure. It's such a good book: I was drawn in by the plot completely and I thought the difficult subject matter was well handled. The Handmaid's Tale is another. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir was funny but I read it while I was pregnant and having to inject myself in the stomach and she refers to doing so (for a different reason) and so it really got me in the feels.

Only one finish for me this week:

The Name of the Wind as my first in a series I have not read before. Loved it! It was so very Dickensian. I am not much of a fantasy reader. I liked this because it is so reminiscent of historical fiction, recalls many excellent writers (the aforementioned Dickens, JK Rowling, GRRM), and though lots of the features of fantasy present they are not really driving the story, just accenting it. Definitely reading the second in the trilogy, possibly for this challenge as it is more than 800 pages and I have yet to fill that prompt.

That puts me at 42/52 - 33/42 and 9/12.

Currently reading:

The Paris Wife - novel about Hemingway's first wife, but more historical fiction as it is based on extensive primary source material, particularly interviews with her. I am liking it a whole lot. Probably my book about an interesting woman, rather than book with a family member term in the title.

Hunger’s Brides: A Novel of the Baroque - slow progress - too many distractions. This is either my book more than 800 pages or book that's a story within a story.

Hamilton: The Revolution - not for challenge at this point but as I'm seeing Hamilton again in 2 weeks, I wanted to finish reading this. Oh wait, I think this qualifies as 'book with a title that's a character's name' which I have not filled! Woot!

QOTW: Recently, The Sellout had a hard, profound impact on me. Has me completely rethinking the way I - and we as a country and as individuals regardless of where you stand - talk about and deal with racism. Absolutely brilliant satire, funny, uncomfortable, thought provoking, it sticks.

The Prince of Tides - written in exquisitely beautiful language that just makes the horrors described so much worse. I read it in 1987, outright sobbed as I read the last 50 or so pages, and even now, cannot talk or think about it without tears welling.

The Handmaid's Tale - another book I read a long time ago (around 1990) that just has never left - it was all too easy to see that world happen, and much that's happening today brings that point awfully close to home. I also add Station Eleven here because it too had a deep impact, and is all too believable - that nature will strike back with something like a pandemic, forcing the survivors back to a simpler more agrarian, more primitive, more dangerous world.

Hello from hot and sticky Cleveland. Checking in late so I can finally count a book!

I read Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes for a book about someone with a disability. The author's daughter was unexpectedly born with albinism (I learned it's no longer to call someone an albino) and that inspired her to research the disease and how it's treated in different countries. I love memoirs but didn't realize this would be a "mommy memoir" and have almost no mentions of folklore, which was especially disappointing because the author pursued folklore for her PhD. It does sound like there's almost no positive representation in literature for people with albinism, so I'm sure this does fill an important need for some people.

QOTW: Like others, I'm not really sure what's meant by "hard" impact, but I'm going to say Les Misérables. I was so intimidated to read it, and I found it (mostly) really enjoyable and am proud I tackled it. Certain parts still stick with me a year later (particularly the line about how the 20th century would be happy...) and I even had to delay reading it because I got to the deaths of the students over Thanksgiving, and I didn't know how I would explain to my complete non-reader in-laws why I was crying. It's not a perfect book, but I think so much of it is still relevant today.

Hello from a moody Columbus! I'm late, the power was out most of today so I had to make iPhone battery life choices.

Also, boo to this summer going to fast. My daughter went back to school yesterday and my son starts preschool at the end of the month. Why is time so mean?

Anywho.

Beautiful Ruins was my set in a hotel pick. I had a hard time finding a book for the prompt that sounded interesting. All of the popular suggestions just didn't speak to me. It was another light read with beautiful scenery in Italy that makes you want to travel. (My last book was The Enchanted April, so they paired together nicely). It was okay, nothing incredible but most definitely enjoyable. I'd probably read more from the author.

I try not to form opinions or comment on a book until I've finished but I'm about half way through listening and reading Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens. I love it so much so far. Eddie Izzard has always been on of my favorite people. He has such a kind heart, and he does so much for others. Also he's exactly my kind of humor and I love all the roles he's played. The audiobook is narrated by him but the physical book has pictures, so I have both. If you're into his comedy I'd really suggest picking this book up.

35/40; 4/12 with 54 books read this year

QOTW: assuming the question means what took an emotional toll on me I'd say probably any book that does that "surprise! Dead baby/children!!" plot device. I've read loads of them and it's always a blow to my heart. Also, Songs for the Missing still makes me really sad when I think about it. It's about a family after their 18 year old daughter goes missing and it makes me panic just imagining myself in that scenario.

Finished a few books this week: The Nightingale (for a book during wartime), The Diary of a Young Girl (book with a red spine), and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (book with character's name in the title).

I haven't chosen what to read next yet, but I may try an audiobook for the first time, since I'll be traveling this weekend.

QOTW: The Nightingale has really stuck with me this past week, since I finished reading it. I cried during the entire second half of the book and am forcing my sisters to read it as well. Other books that have hit me pretty hard from when I was younger are: The Lovely Bones, Elsewhere, and In Cold Blood. I also often find myself thinking about Behind Her Eyes, which I read earlier this year, because truly #WTFThatEnding

I finished one book this week, A Darker Shade of Magic for the first book in a series I haven't read yet. I really enjoyed this - it was a very easy read and I will probably read the other books at some point, but likely after I finished this challenge.

That leaves me at 23/40 for the main challenge and 3/12 for the advanced.

QOTW: I read The Wasp Factory when I was younger and was completely traumatised by it. It's a great book but I will never re-read it. Surprisingly Iain Banks is one of my favourite authors but I was extremely cautious about picking up another of his books after that experience.

More recently I read The Underground Railroad for this challenge and it was simply heartbreaking. I recommend it to everyone but it was a very hard read and I still think about it a lot.

It's one of my busiest work weeks of the year, so I've been going home every night and getting into bed by 6 p.m. but not reading. Just hibernating.

So! Nothing to report - still working on League of Dragons and Pictures Of The Floating World. I started Uptown Thief last weekend, which I'm enjoying a lot, but I haven't read a single page since Monday.

Late this week - my life is ramping up to a truly insane pace that will only get worse now through September 15th! I'm going to set up my reading nook (hat tip to Gretchen Rubin for the idea to use some unused space in my house) and try to use it to find some serenity on occasion!

Didn't finish anything this week, but revamped my list and started a bunch of stuff I'm excited about:

Fool Proof for an espionage thriller. It's also a farcical comedy, and IIRC, written by someone I know from a message board. It's silly but fun so far.

Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi, for a book about food. I'm trying to do a fruit/veg-forward approach to food, and this is AMAZING inspiration.

Shotguns v. Cthulhu for a book with a red spine. It's all action-oriented Lovecraftian short stories. So far, it's bowling me over. "Old Wave" is really interesting - a Polynesian take on eldritch gods, and fascinatingly repellent. Also this has stories from my favorite podcasters, Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer.

QOTW Bloodchild and Other Stories - Octavia Butler is a genius at unflinching examinations of morally repugnant issues. The story "Amnesty" caused me to put this book down for a while to recover. But I finished it, and I'm glad I did. She is a shining example of what science fiction can do for us philosophically.

Unauthorized Cinnamon wrote: "Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi, for a book about food. I'm trying to do a fruit/veg-forward approach to food, and this is AMAZING inspiration. ..."

I love this book! That and his Jerusalem: A Cookbook. Yum -- have fun!

Hey people! This is my first check-in from sunny Austin, Texas, where I'll be living until next December - getting back to France for Christmas. My wife will be working as a guest professor at UT Austin while I'll be basically a soccer dad! We arrived on Wednesday night and have already managed quite a lot: getting oriented, shopping, opening a bank account, and getting our son registered in a school. Actually that was still pending for bureaucratic reasons but he should be able to start school on Monday.

On the reading front, I finished one book during the week:

✅17. A book involving a mythical creature: Michel Tournier, Le Roi des Aulnes , Folio Gallimard, 1990 (éd. orig. 1970).

The creature in question is the "Erlenkönnig" of Goethe's poem understood as an ogre king. The main character (a real freak, not of the pleasant kind) pictures himself as somewhat between the ogre of old bed-time stories and Saint Christopher carrying the christ. That's not the weirdest thing about him by a great length... A strong novel though, even though I wouldn't put it in my top ten or anything like that.

I also listened to an audiobook in the plane to Austin but it was only an excerpt from a short story collection. I guess I'll get the full version using the Audible trial period!

QOTW: hmmm... I'll probably have to get back to you on that. The first book I have in mind is Voyage au bout de la nuit by Louis-Ferdinand Céline; but that was a long time ago and I could probably find some more recent instances!

Well, here in Northern Colorado we're bracing for the eclipse traffic. I never did get any eclipse glasses (we're at about 95% here, I think), so my entertainment will be to hike over to the I-25 overpass and watch the road rage. Too bad I didn't think to find a copy of Nightfall to read this weekend.

I did finish up two books last week, both Christie anthologies: While the Light Lasts and Witness for the Prosecution. I'll have to look, but I don't think they fit any tasks I haven't already completed.

QotW: Probably Magic City. A few pages in I started ugly-crying, and I'm not sure I ever completely stopped crying while reading that book. It's absolutely heartbreaking from start to finish. It's a magical realism take on the horrible events of 1921 in Tulsa, and it makes our current events all the more terrifying. Especially considering that I never even knew that the "Negro Wall Street" had existed, let alone been destroyed so brutally, until I read that book. I definitely recommend it highly, but have a box or two of tissues handy.

Christophe wrote: "Hey people! This is my first check-in from sunny Austin, Texas, where I'll be living until next December - getting back to France for Christmas. My wife will be working as a guest professor at UT A..."

That's pretty awesome for your whole family! I've lived in the US my whole life and I've never been to Texas! Texas is a bigass place... ;-)

Sarah wrote: "I couldn't finish Illuminae. It was way too gimmicky for me. If it had just been a straight story I might have enjoyed it but I gave up after about a quarter of the book. ..."

Yes, Illuminae was definitely gimmicky, and often a prominent gimmick will kill a book for me, so I know what you mean (The Book Thief, for example, just DID NOT WORK for me), but this time it worked for me. Somehow the conceit of the entire book being a collection of transcripts and emails tempered the teen snark and teen romance and allowed the crazy space adventure to shine through. If it had been just a straightforward narration, I wouldn't have liked it as much. (And so I'm a little afraid to read the second book in the series, now that most of the gimmick has been "revealed" by the ending of Illuminae - but I will, eventually, bravely carry on to the finish.)

Hi everyone from Sydney, Australia. This week I finished 3 books, 1 fiction and 2 non fiction :

Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table - this was an impulse pick up at my local library. I wasn't able to fit this title under a challenge category but I really enjoyed reading this incredible memoir which looked back on some of the memorable heart surgeries during his long career and I gave it 5 stars.

Poirot's Finest Cases Eight Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations - this was an audiobook and I put under Advanced challenge category 'A book with an eccentric character' (Hercule Poirot). Eight murder mysteries brilliantly performed as a BBC Production.

Into the Darkness: The Mysterious Death of Phoebe Handsjuk. Another library loan. I really enjoy true crime and living in Sydney, this book was about an investigation into sudden death of a woman living in Melbourne. Gripped me from start to finish and gave it a solid 4 stars.

That puts me at 35/40 and 6/ 12 = total of 41/52.

There have been a few books that have had a hard impact on me as I have a tendency to read a fair amount of non fiction. A book that has really stayed with me is:
One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway

Other more recent reads would be:
A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy
When Breath Becomes Air
Joe Cinque's Consolation, A True Story of Death, Grief and the Law
Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland

While I finished a couple of books this past week, neither one fit any of my unfinished prompts. I researched possible fits for the prompts I have open, so I've got books in mind for just about all of the remaining categories. My totals right now are: 30/40 and 9/12.

I made good progress on the book that I plan to use for one of the advanced prompts (A book that's more than 800 pages): Collected Poems. I'm now just over the 700-page mark, leaving me with about 300 pages to go.

The books I finished this week were:
* No One Can Pronounce My Name, which I loved; and,
* The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which was my book club's pick for August and we all enjoyed.

In addition to the Lorca poetry collection, I'm reading:
* Arrowood (doesn't fit an open prompt; really enjoying it and think I'll be checking out the author's previous book based on this one);
* Did You Ever Have a Family (doesn't fit an open prompt); and,
* Dear Committee Members (which I'll use for "A book of letters").

QotW:
Some non-fiction books that have had a hard impact on me are:
* Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
* Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
* The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
* Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family
* Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

In terms of fiction, I'd point to:
* The Sympathizer
* The Dinner
* The Moor's Account
* Half of a Yellow Sun
* Nada
* Island of a Thousand Mirrors

Megan wrote: "While I finished a couple of books this past week, neither one fit any of my unfinished prompts. I researched possible fits for the prompts I have open, so I've got books in mind for just about all..."

Love your reading list, probably because it looks so much like mine! I'm going to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian for another challenge before the year ends, and recently read Dear Committee Members and Half the Sky (both really good!). I loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. You're in for a treat!

Busy week but I managed to finish two books. I realized after I finished them that both of them that it fits a prompt I hadn't completed yet.

I also realized that one of the books I read, Standing in the Fire: Courageous Christians Living in Frightening Times by Tom Doyle counts as a book with a subtitle. I had not counted it towards this challenge, so yeah! another prompt finished.

For a book that has a story within a story, I read Before We Were Yours by one of my favorite authors, Lisa Wingate.
I enjoyed this book. It takes place in two different time periods and two different locations, but the stories are intertwined. Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals - in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country. This book was both heart-breaking and inspiring at it shows us that there is connection in families that can overcome any and all circumstances. It angers me when I read or hear about people harming children for any reason, so this book would probably qualify for the QOTW.

I also read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I didn't enjoy the book as much as i anticipated. It may be that I had such high expectations because of Angelou is such a great author. It is also hard to read about the circumstances of the characters. At any rate, it fits the prompt for a book with a main character that is a different ethnicity from you.

Totals so far are: 36/40 and 9/12 and 17 off-prompt.

I'm currently listening to Summer House by Nancy Thayer. I have it on audible.com, so I decided to knock it out. It's ok, but it feels formulaic to me.

I'm trying to continue reading The Teaberry Strangler by Laura Childs. I read this series years ago then stopped. It is a feel good series for me, and I decided I wanted to resume reading it.

I have also started How the Light Gets In. This is part of the Inspector Ganache series. I'm decided on it so far.

QOTW: As I mentioned,Before We Were Yours had a hard impact because it involved children.

The Auschwitz Escape by Joel C. Rosenberg because it is a true story involving the Nazis and the worst of the worst of the concentration camps.

Killing Christians: Living the Faith Where It's Not Safe to Believe by Tom doyle because it is about people in the Middle East and Africa who are being persecuted and killed for their faith. It seems like most of the world doesn't care.

I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban because again a child is being persecuted for her beliefs.

I finished three things! But only one fit for the challenge

Finished Eliza and Her Monsters. I really enjoyed this one.

Finished Listful Thinking: Using Lists to Be More Productive, Successful and Less Stressed for my career advice. This could have been way better. I think the author lost me when she said an easy way to get things done off your list is to outsource as much as possible. Easier said than done...

Finished Wires and Nerve, Volume 1. This was cute. I loved seeing faces to my Lunar Chronicle favorites.

Started Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

31/40 and 7/12

This week I read The House of Mirth for a book by someone you admire. I wasn't sure what to use for this prompt but I was reading the book anyway and I do admire Edith Wharton for being the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. The novel itself was good but sad.

QOTW- I'm not sure. I guess I will have to think about it!

Missed last weeks checkin.

In the past few weeks I've finished: Scarlett, Cress, Clockwork Dynasty. Making my way through How to Train Your Dragon, Rising Strong, and Winter.

I can count on one hand the amount of prompts I have left to fill. Clockwork Dynasty filled the Steampunk prompt.

Another late check in for me! I'm actually starting to check in now so that's a start!

I'm now at 31/52 (23/40 and 8/12). I'm approaching the challenge a little bit differently, where the first 40 prompts I fill will count towards the regular challenge and the remaining 12 will count towards the advanced. I've never read more than 20 books in a year before so I didn't think I'd get nearly as far as I've gotten so far and hoping that i'll actually be able to read all 52!

This week I read:
Salt to the Sea for main character is a different ethnicity

The Girl on the Train for the advanced prompt best seller from 2016.

QOTW:
Definitely The Lovely Bones and The Diary of a Young Girl, but also because I love animals, any book where an animal dies!!