Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Happy Thursday!!

We have been having so much rain.  And on the days that it doesn't rain, I've seen some people watering their lawns.  Are they nuts?  give the lawn a break!  It doesn't need water EVERY day!!
  
My daylilies are blooming, my raspberries (and the wild black caps) are bearing fruit, my tomatoes are still green, and my hydrangea - which didn't bloom at all the last two years, due to harsh winters - is blooming and lovely!  If only I cut back the old wood, it would be very pretty, but right now it's a bunch of gorgeous blue/purple/pink mophead blooms pushing up between sticks.  It's summer!  

Next week I am flying down to our factory for a workshop.  I haven't flown in a plane in ... years! Generally, I hate business travel, but it's been so long, I'm actually looking forward to seeing all my coworkers that I haven't seen in years.  (And I anticipate lots of reading time in airports!)  I am fully vaccinated, so I trust this will be safe, but I will still use precautions.  Maybe when I come back home, my tomatoes will have turned red.



Admin stuff

Our July group read of The Guest List is ongoing You can join the discussion here.

All of the group reads for 2021 have now been chosen, you can see the final list here.

We have openings for discussion leaders for:
October (locked room mystery):  Anxious People
December (published in 2021):  Malibu Rising 




This week I finished 3 books, NONE for this Challenge again, so I remain 33/50.  I can't remember the last time I checked off a Challenge cateogry!!!  (Ok, I just checked, it was June 23.  So I haven't filled a single challenge category ALL MONTH.)

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters- this was fantastic!  Waters is so great at creating complex, fascinating characters.  I originally intended to listen to this audiobook in June for Pride Month, but that didn't quite happen.  Juanita McMahon did a great job reading this.

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby- I LOVED Cosby's previous book, it was one of my all-time favorite books, so maybe my expectations were a tad too high when I picked up his newest book.  This was ... good.  It could have been better.  The two main protagonists were great, but everything else about this book felt clunky. 

My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 by Gengoroh Tagame- This was okay.  Just like the first volume, I found the art to be kind of stiff and unappealing, and the story is just sticky-sweet.  



Question of the Week
Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers?

I generally do not pay attention, which means I'm confused when there is big news about publishers merging or some other publisher-related scandal.  I WANT to be one of those readers who automatically knows who the big publishing houses are, and the names of their subdivisions, but I am not.  I don't even know how many big publishing houses we have left.  (I googled.  There are now just four* in the USA.)

The only publishers I really pay attention to are Workman, DK (now an imprint of Penguin Random House), First Second (graphic novels), and tor (now an imprint of Macmillan).  Tor's free shorts got my attention, and their occasional free e-book kept my attention. 
 
Until this week whenI started googling for this QotW, I thought Tor was an independent publisher!  



* If the Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster merger went through? I can't seem to find any free articles on line that say it's a done deal.

I finished The Owl Killers as my genre hybrid. It was weird but good.

I'm about 100 pages out from finishing Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe as my book that takes place in a restaurant. Can't really say this is my thing, though I have enjoyed it in a few places.

QOTW: Not sure if this makes me a bad person or not, but I've never given publishers or publishing houses a second thought. Random House published Fried Green Tomatoes, but that was over 30 years ago. Bantam books published The Owl Killers. Maybe I'll start paying attention.

It is that magic day of the week, Thursday, yet once again! YAY!! I wanted to share a truly wonderful (to me, at least) positive event in my life. A Goodreads member with whom I’ve connected in the past seemingly just disappeared from Goodreads so I sent a brief note regarding their lack of participation in several challenges, just checking to make sure they were okay and nothing too traumatic had occurred to them. After 2-3 weeks I was kinda resigned to the idea that although I had thought we were truly “friends,” perhaps we hadn’t connected as much as I thought we had. (You know, that happens sometimes…) But…I recently received a very long message from them, thanking me for my inquiry, explaining their extended absence, and reiterating our friendship. I was so grateful and it’s wonderful to have this person back in my Goodreads life!!

Question of the Week:
Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers?
I don’t think I do now as much as I used to.

I always appreciate any book I purchase from Persephone so much! They specialize in reprinting lesser-known older works written by females and there is usually an introduction and sometimes an analysis included. And the bindings are quite unique.

I have read several classics that were published by Penguin Classics and I really appreciated all the extra information contained with the original text.

What I most appreciate about these two publishers is that typically there is an introduction that places the book within its time period and gives you background information about the book and/or the author.

I am currently reading an “Author’s Definitive Edition” of Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card with a rather extensive introduction written by him. I do appreciate extra information like that when it is especially pertinent to the book and/or series!

I have been noticing new-to-me publisher imprints over the past couple of years, but I don’t necessarily track such information, except trying to locate the same edition of a book in Goodreads. And typically they are part of a larger publishing company overall anyway... Seems to be very few truly independent publishers left.

Popsugar: 37/50
ATY: 47/52
RHC: 11/24
Reading Women: 10/28
No movement this week. Hopefully I’ll add at least one more next week!

FINISHED:
Origin (Robert Langdon #5) by Dan Brown ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was an amazing read, IMO! I have to admit that I enjoy the way in which he does not shy away from organized religion in many (Perhaps most?) of his books. And in the end he does leave it open-ended, allowing each of us our own personal reaction, which I can appreciate. So much history and geographical information in such an enjoyable format! I love Dan Brown’s writing!
POPSUGAR: #18-Answering life’s toughest questions: “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we going?”, #21-Adventure, Fiction, Mystery, Philosophy, Religion, Science Fiction, #27, #30-Spain, #34-Monarchy vs. Democracy, #37, #38-Brown includes much information about art and artists, #46, #47-Dan Brown is one of my all-time favorite writers and this is one of my favorite series.
ATY: #8-Spain, #13, #17-the Imam, #20-I think this could be a correct vision of our future, #23- Adventure, Fiction, Mystery, Philosophy, Religion, Science Fiction, #28-King, Justice, Strength, Judgement, The World, #29. #30, #31, #34, #42, #49, #52-The end as well as the beginning.

The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #16) by Alexander McCall Smith ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I picked this one up and read it. I just needed yet another mystery and this is one of my absolute favorite series! And this puts me one step closer to catching up with this series this year as planned! As always I loved this installment! Grace proved herself to be more than up to the task of solving difficult, complicated, and sensitive situations with just as much aplomb and insight as would have Precious, IMO. Maybe even better! That was so gratifying to see her succeed!
POPSUGAR: #18-Dispelling false rumors and exposing fraud, #19, #27, #30-Africa, #34-Exposing fraudulent businesses and debunking false accusations, #37, #43, #47-All-time favorite writer and series!
ATY: #8-Africa, #10-Violet and the man’s sister, #13, #19, Precious must let go of past experiences with Grace to realize her current skills, and that will make for a much more comfortable future for both their personal and work relationships, #27-Justice, Death, Judgement, The World, #29, #31, #34, #35-Africa, #36, #40, #42, #45-Charlie, #51, #52-In the end, poor Precious didn’t really get much of a holiday!

Also read two “between-the-numbers” short stories in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series:
Doctors, Detectives, Common Sense (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #6.7) by Alexander McCall Smith
The No. 1 Lady Detective’s New Year Resolutions (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #17.6) by Alexander McCall Smith
I am not counting either one for a challenge prompt. With reference to last week’s QoTW, I would swear these two short stories were just added. Maybe not…but it seems as if they were. In the meantime, as I explored Smith’s website, I discovered a treasure-trove of short stories (under “Story Calendar”) and I think many of these “between the number” stories in his series derive from this monthly listing. I printed off 2 ½ years’ worth and will read them as breaks from actual books. And he has started another series!

I downloaded two of these “between-the-number” books that are short story compilations in which Smith is included:
The Sunday Night Book Club (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #6.5 & #6.6) by Wendy Holden
The Book Lovers’ Appreciation Society (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #10.5) by Cecelia Ahern
It looked as if these would be very difficult or almost impossible to get in print format, but I found them both in Google Books!

CONTINUING:
I went ahead and started one of my two July Buddy Reads:
Speaker for the Dead (Ender’s Saga #2) by Orson Scott Card
I am swept in from the beginning, as usual with Ender novels!

I am about 1/3 through Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo for Sunday’s book club meeting at my favorite local used bookstore! I’m really loving the authenticity and genuine representation of Lily in adolescence. Pretty sure I’ll try to read some of Lo’s other novels.
Made a bit of progress in each of these…
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
This book. It really makes me think and rethink!
Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence

PLANNED:
My other July Buddy Read: Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross #2) by James Patterson
I am simply waiting for the "perfect" time to pick up this next one!
The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #26 A book written by Isabel Allende.
Paradise by Toni Morrison to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #25 A book written by Toni Morrison.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Had my second vaccination yesterday. Feeling less tired than I did with the first dose, so that's good.

Finished:
The Rookery by Deborah Hewitt for a free book from my TBR (well it's been there since February). This was a sequel to a book wher I didn't love the main character but loved the world building, so I gave this a go and it was so much better.

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris for something broken on the cover. This is a hard one to talk about without spoilers but I could see both sides. It sorts of ends up a bit Black Mirror-esque.

QOTW:
I pay attention to some imprints more than others as they tend to have similar sorts of books (well until all the editors change round). I think the UK must have a healthier publishing ecosystem than the US, we do have the Big 5 (or soon to be 4, the competition authority deemed S&S not big enough to worry about the merger here) but lots of others too.

I think the SFF imprints do more to market themselves as brands, like Nadine said Tor are really well known and not everyone knows they are an imprint. Hodder & Stoughton (Hachette) has Hodderscape for their SFF and I love their dodo mascot. Since I have been blogging a while I tend to know publicists that work on specific imprints so I know their books better. I get a lot of Orbit books for instance. I like the kind of YA that Hot Key (imprint of Bonnier) pick up.

I like to see what the independents are doing, even if they aren't always my taste, it's good to see things that are a bit different. Three that spring to mind are Canongate, Unsung Stories and Peirene.

Nadine wrote: "We have been having so much rain. And on the days that it doesn't rain, I've seen some people watering their lawns. Are they nuts? give the lawn a break! It doesn't need water EVERY day!!"
Not just nuts, but, IMO, irresponsible! Water supplies are ever-dwindling and then there are people insistent on misusing it like that! Ugh. 😒

"My daylilies are blooming, my raspberries (and the wild black caps) are bearing fruit, my tomatoes are still green, and my hydrangea - which didn't bloom at all the last two years, due to harsh winters - is blooming and lovely! If only I cut back the old wood, it would be very pretty, but right now it's a bunch of gorgeous blue/purple/pink mophead blooms pushing up between sticks. It's summer!"
I love these "growing" updates. It reminds me of the past when I gardened extensively!

"Next week I am flying down to our factory for a workshop. I haven't flown in a plane in ... years! Generally, I hate business travel, but it's been so long, I'm actually looking forward to seeing all my coworkers that I haven't seen in years. (And I anticipate lots of reading time in airports!) I am fully vaccinated, so I trust this will be safe, but I will still use precautions. Maybe when I come back home, my tomatoes will have turned red."
Wow. I don't know. That sounds like fun to me! I fully intend to keep wearing a mask and physical distance as much as possible for now. I want to protect myself as much as possible, especially since I'm old!

"Admin stuff"
Thanks for listing all that! 🤗

"This week I finished 3 books, NONE for this Challenge again, so I remain 33/50. I can't remember the last time I checked off a Challenge cateogry!!! (Ok, I just checked, it was June 23. So I haven't filled a single challenge category ALL MONTH.)"
I'm running a bit behind in my challenge reading. I realized I've really got to start hitting it in the next couple of weeks. Thankfully I finally exerted a bit of self-control and haven't been signing up for Buddy Reads like the crazed lunatic I can be! LOL 😁

"Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters- this was fantastic! Waters is so great at creating complex, fascinating characters."
I still hope to read one of hers his year...

"Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby- I LOVED Cosby's previous book, it was one of my all-time favorite books, so maybe my expectations were a tad too high when I picked up his newest book. This was ... good. It could have been better."
I'm sorry this one wasn't as enjoyable!

"My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 by Gengoroh Tagame-This was okay. Just like the first volume, I found the art to be kind of stiff and unappealing, and the story is just sticky-sweet."
Ha! I don't believe I've ever seen "sticky-sweet" as a descriptor in a review before! LOL 😂

"Question of the Week
Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers?

I generally do not pay attention, which means I'm confused when there is big news about publishers merging or some other publisher-related scandal. I WANT to be one of those readers who automatically knows who the big publishing houses are, and the names of their subdivisions, but I am not. I don't even know how many big publishing houses we have left. (I googled. There are now just four* in the USA.)"
Wow. Unbelievable.

"The only publishers I really pay attention to are Workman, DK (now an imprint of Penguin Random House), First Second (graphic novels), and tor (now an imprint of Macmillan). Tor's free shorts got my attention, and their occasional free e-book kept my attention."
Wow. I thought Tor was still independent! And I didn't realize DK is now part of Penguin RH! DK was a publisher I used to watch for children's books.

"* If the Penguin Random House / Simon & Schuster merger went through? I can't seem to find any free articles on line that say it's a done deal."
Ah. I remember hearing about this but had forgotten... I don't know!

Katy wrote: "I finished The Owl Killers as my genre hybrid. It was weird but good."
That's one I won't be tackling...

"I'm about 100 pages out from finishing Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe as my book that takes place in a restaurant. Can't really say this is my thing, though I have enjoyed it in a few places."
I loved the movie but have yet to read the book!

"QOTW: Not sure if this makes me a bad person or not, but I've never given publishers or publishing houses a second thought. Random House published Fried Green Tomatoes, but that was over 30 years ago. Bantam books published The Owl Killers. Maybe I'll start paying attention."
Ha! Ha! There is no "good" or "bad" to noticing publishers, IMO! It's just another aspect of books.

Happy Thursday! The forecast has shifted and we're due for more rain tonight (meh). It's also preview night for the outdoor run of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I'm working on with my local professional theatre company, which means this has been tech week and I am exhausted :) but in a good way, because I missed theatre so much :) Opening night (tomorrow) is not looking promising as we're due for even MORE rain, but we'll figure that out tomorrow.

As this has been tech week, I've had almost zero time for books when I'm at home, so the two books I've finished have been audiobooks:
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz - 4 stars. Larson is one of my favorite NF authors and he doesn't disappoint!
The Echo Wife - also 4 stars. I couldn't figure out where this was going and I'm already looking forward to an eventual reread.
I'm also counting A Midsummer Night's Dream on my Read list as I've now read it more times in the past week than I have any time previously (the first time I read it was in college, and I loved it, but seeing it performed - as usual with Shakespeare - adds an entirely new, fantastical element that you don't get when you simply read it).

Currently reading:
Hamnet - This is perfect with Shakespeare on the brain. O'Farrell's writing is so lyrical and easy to get caught up in.
Terms of Surrender - Got in a few pages of this yesterday afternoon and the witch coven characters are still some of my favorites.

Back burner/on hold til I have Free Time:
The Unbroken
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
I'm deeply invested in both, but neither lends themselves to "bedtime reading" when you're routinely crashing at 1:30-2am.

Upcoming:
The White Rose - I'm so late, this is a BR for another group that started last week and I still haven't even been able to touch it. I adore theatre but it does throw my reading schedule out the window.
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
The Brothers Cabal

QOTW: Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers?
I tend to gravitate toward Tor and Orbit (fantasy). The Big Four do seem to have quite the monopoly on publishing at the moment, so I'm always interested in smaller indie publishers. I've seen some sloppy stuff editing-wise come out of SourceBooks, so I tend to be wary of them. Riverhead Books (a subsidiary of Penguin) consistently puts out good material.

Good morning from Columbus! I keep saying I’m going to be better at checking in here but yet, I am not getting any better at it lol.

The Empire of Gold not for the challenge (also read the first two books in the trilogy, The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper recently). I’ve had the first book on my shelf for ages but am just now getting around to reading them. They’re long but very entertaining fantasy novels involving Djinn and other mythical creatures.

The Box in the Woods the latest Truly Devious book, this one was set at a summer camp instead of at the academy but the mystery was still A+ and I eagerly await more books in the series.

Anna K: A Love Story a modern retelling of Anna Karenina but set in New York with super rich people. I don’t know how I ended up with this book; and while it held my attention, it really didn’t have the same charm. And I could really have gone my whole life without reading graphic descriptions of 16 year olds’ sexual adventures 😬. An okay book, I could see myself reading the second just to see how the story continues (the book ends mostly with the same wrap up as the original) but it wasn’t my favorite.

QOTW: I follow a lot of publishers on IG to see new releases but I don’t favor one to another

Hi all,

It's also been very rainy here in Michigan. Had a decent day yesterday, back to being cloudy and grey yesterday.

This week I finished:

Act Your Age, Eve Brown - this was a fun read, I like all the Brown sisters. I used this for Read Harder's fat-positive romance, book nerds character you'd be bff with.

Bite Me If You Can- re read, had a bad migraine all weekend so needed something that didn't require real concentration.

Currently reading:

Queen of the Conquered - this is a bit slow going. Reminds me of the Traitor Baru Cormarant. It's not BAD but i'm having trouble really getting into it, and not really looking forward to picking it up. But I'm counting it for my book starting with a Q, X, or Z so i'm sticking with it.

A Closed and Common Orbit - doing an audio book re-read while i cross stitch or do art.

QOTW:

I don't really pay much attention to the publisher. I do follow Tor on facebook/mailing list like many others, because they give monthly free sci fi/fantasy books, free shorts on their website, and in general publish genres I really like reading. But if i go see a book I like, I don't really go look at the publisher or pay much attention.

Good Morning. It’s hot here & not much rain. We had a quick thunderstorm yesterday that I enjoyed. I finished two books for the week. Only one was for this challenge but they are close in stories. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner. This was for a different challenge. The prompt was to read a body positive romance. I could of used it for the pop sugar prompt about body positivity but my hold on Starfish by Lisa Fipps came in so I used that for pop sugar. Big Summer was 3 stars. Chick Lit,romance,mystery. It was okay. I loved Starfish. If you haven’t done the body positivity prompt yet look this book up. This is a middle grade,poetry,realistic fiction book. 5 stars. A quick read. The book did a great job showing what it’s like being over weight in middle school. It talks about the bullying from classmates & from her family.
QOTW: I don’t pay too much attention to publishers but I record them in my reading journal. Last year I did discover Quirk Books when I read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. I was seriously considering making a spreadsheet of publishers at the end of the year from the books I read. This way I can see if there is a pattern.

Happy Thursday, y’all.

@Nadine -- can you send some of that rain our way? Idaho is under severe drought conditions at the moment. It's not just bad for farmers and gardeners, but it means we're going to have an awful fire season this year...

Books read this week:

The Ice Lion -- please don’t ask me why I pushed myself to finish this one. It was an interesting premise, but unbelievably boring and with bland, uninteresting characters. I’m told this author’s a good one, so maybe this was just a dud on their part?

Toad Words And Other Stories -- story collection by one of my favorite authors. If you like fairy tale retellings that feature fascinating heroines and sly (but not grim-dark) twists on familiar tales, give this one a shot!

The Tea Dragon Tapestry -- graphic novel, and an absolutely sweet and adorable continuation of the Tea Dragon series. We need more slice-of-life fantasy, honestly...

DNF:

The Pygmy Dragon -- yeesh… I have to agree with another review on this one, it feels like every chapter was written by a different person. Also, it felt really awkward for the writer to appropriate another culture (African Pygmies) for his fantasy world, especially since he seemed to fall back on stereotypes instead of doing his research.

Under the Pendulum Sun -- another case of “great premise, lousy exeuction.” The idea of 19th-century missionaries venturing into the Faery Kingdom to convert the Fae was interesting, but the book was just so SLOW and tedious that I gave up.

Currently Reading:

Long After Midnight
Children of God
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Love, Lattes and Mutants

QOTW:

I honestly don't pay a lot of attention to publishers... though I admit to enjoying the output of Tor and Orbit (even if those are imprints and not actual publishing houses).

This week I finished:

Before She Was Found: This book was fine, but just didn't really go anywhere for me. I didn't think the portrayal or preteens was very accurate and it just lacked some genuineness for me.

Hairpin Bridge: So I'm finding that a lot of people did not like this one, and I certainly can understand why, BUT I thought it was terrifying and fantastic. I actually considered calling off work yesterday so I could finish it. (I didn't, but since I was doing the audiobook, I was able to finish it while driving to visit a kid in placement.) Something about the way Taylor Adams sets up suspense just really works for me. I have had nightmares my whole life, but I also lucid dream, so they end up more of a thought exercise for me than something crippling the way they can be for some people. Taylor Adams books are essentially writing one of my lucid nightmares out on paper, and my subconscious is pretty creative, and super far-fetched, but awesomely entertaining, so while I too had to suspend my disbelief for some of the book, I basically loved the whole thing.

Currently reading:

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson: I am not a huge fan of poems, and the dated language is hard for me to find much enjoyment in.

Fallen: I'm racing to finish this one. I love this series. I paid full price to read this and not have to wait in 11th place at the library for it.

Faceless Killers: So far so good. I think I will like this one.

QOTW:

No. I pay no attention.

I love hearing the descriptions of people's gardens! I hate that apartment living means no real garden. And I'm moving to a new complex that doesn't come with a patio/balcony space, so I had to give all my outdoor plants to my parents! *cries*

I know they'll take good care of them for me, but they live in a slightly different climate (hotter and drier), so I worry that I'll lose most of them.

And it annoys the heck out of me when people water when there's been rain, or have their sprinklers going WHILE it's raining, or have their sprinklers set up so they're watering the sidewalk more than the grass. Apparently I'm judgy about water consumption, but I think that comes from growing up in an area that's in a perpetual drought.

Finished:
Nothing - but I could have!

Currently Reading:
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik - I easily could have finished this this week, but I would have had to do so in the evening. Because it's likely to end on a cliffhanger of some kind, I know all the adrenaline would build up and I'd have trouble sleeping. Being sensitive can be a good thing but it's also super annoying. I can't read anything exciting too close to bed! So I plan to finish it this weekend.

Also, I am absolutely LOVING this book! Novik is definitely a favorite - she writes the most incredible female characters and they're all so different from one another! I

Up Next:
Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme - an oxymoron in the title. I've read parts of this when I was curious about a particular rhyme, but I'm excited to read it all the way through!

QOTW:
Not really. I follow Penguin Random House on instagram, mostly because I love a lot of their special edition covers. My mom bought us a bunch of DK books when we were kids because they're educational (I even had a computer game from them - you were in a natural history-type museum and got to learn all about big cats. I was obsessed with big cats, so I loved it!).

I will say, whoever publishes the Barnes and Noble books (I'm too lazy to look it up) is very sloppy. I have a handful of their fancy, faux-leather-bound books, and I find so many typos and pages where the type itself is off-center, and it's so upsetting! I'd get rid of them all, but the ones I have are collections of stories I have yet to find elsewhere (without buying a bunch of separate books).

Nadine wrote: "Happy Thursday!!

We have been having so much rain.  And on the days that it doesn't rain, I've seen some people watering their lawns.  Are they nuts?  give the lawn a break!  It doesn't need water..."

Oh no! I just got Razorblade Tears as my BOTM and I love the premise. I haven't read any other Cosby's books so my expectations are not high, but I do want to read Blacktop Wasteland next!

Katelyn wrote: "Oh no! I just got Razorblade Tears as my BOTM and I love the premise. I haven't read any other Cosby's books so my expectations are not high, but I do want to read Blacktop Wasteland next!..."


Blacktop Wasteland was FANTASTIC, one of my favorite reads ever. Perhaps if you start Razorblade after having seen my tepid review, your expectations are sufficiently adjusted and you will enjoy it very much!!!

Razorblade is very violent, it's sort of like Death Wish with the Charles Bronson character split into two ex-cons: a Black former gang member and a white redneck.

Its finally overcast (cloudy) in the PNW - I am so over the sun. It hasn't rained here in DAYS and DAYS but I am thankful the temperature is nowhere near 100 anymore. Is it fall yet?

Finished:

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop. I wanted to read this before Barack Obama put it on his Summer Reading List and I am glad I read it. It was good! Its a short 145-page book set in France/Senegal during WWI.

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson. This book turned out to be very different from the description. Not in a bad way but in a...I don't really care about these characters kind of way. It was only meh.

Continuing:

Arsenic and Adobo - truth be told I have sunk myself into Love Island Season (UK) 6 on Hulu. It's totally trashy TV but I love it and I needed a mental break. I only got about 30 pages into it but it's been so long now I might have to just start over. I will get some reading in this weekend for sure.

QOTW:
I never really pay attention to publishers unless I see it is Scholastic (brings back memories) or Simon and Schuster (which I see all the time). I know Goodreads lists the publisher after the published date (which I do look at) so I am familiar with names but know nothing of the companies themselves.

Lynn wrote: "Katy wrote: "I finished The Owl Killers as my genre hybrid. It was weird but good."
That's one I won't be tackling... "

Well, I wouldn't let me calling something weird deter you , if that's the problem.

Ellie wrote: "Had my second vaccination yesterday. Feeling less tired than I did with the first dose, so that's good."
That's G-G-R-R-E-E-A-A-T-T!

"Finished:
The Rookery by Deborah Hewitt for a free book from my TBR (well it's been there since February). This was a sequel to a book wher I didn't love the main character but loved the world building, so I gave this a go and it was so much better."
I have the first book in the series on my TBR listing. I noticed a vast difference in the Goodreads rating: 3.41 for the first installment and 4.47 for this, the second book!

"QOTW:
I pay attention to some imprints more than others as they tend to have similar sorts of books (well until all the editors change round). I think the UK must have a healthier publishing ecosystem than the US, we do have the Big 5 (or soon to be 4, the competition authority deemed S&S not big enough to worry about the merger here) but lots of others too.

I think the SFF imprints do more to market themselves as brands, like Nadine said Tor are really well known and not everyone knows they are an imprint. Hodder & Stoughton (Hachette) has Hodderscape for their SFF and I love their dodo mascot. Since I have been blogging a while I tend to know publicists that work on specific imprints so I know their books better. I get a lot of Orbit books for instance. I like the kind of YA that Hot Key (imprint of Bonnier) pick up.

I like to see what the independents are doing, even if they aren't always my taste, it's good to see things that are a bit different. Three that spring to mind are Canongate, Unsung Stories and Peirene."
So much good information! Thank you!

Ashley Marie wrote: "Happy Thursday! The forecast has shifted and we're due for more rain tonight (meh). It's also preview night for the outdoor run of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I'm working on with my local professional theatre company, which means this has been tech week and I am exhausted :) but in a good way, because I missed theatre so much :) Opening night (tomorrow) is not looking promising as we're due for even MORE rain, but we'll figure that out tomorrow. . So jealous! I can't wait to get back to the theatre. Broadway isn't opening until the fall.

As this has been tech week, I've had almost zero time for books when I'm at home, so the two books I've finished have been audiobooks:
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz - 4 stars. Larson is one of my favorite NF authors and he doesn't disappoint! I also listened to this one. Listening to people impersonate Churchill could be my full time job. It's amazing. I liked the book too, though I listened to it at the beginning of the pandemic and was hoping to draw more parallels between living through the Blitz and Covid in NYC in the early days. The book was more focused on Churchill than I had expected. That may have been my error, and doesn't reflect on the book.

The Echo Wife - also 4 stars. I couldn't figure out where this was going and I'm already looking forward to an eventual reread.
I'm also counting A Midsummer Night's Dream on my Read list as I've now read it more times in the past week than I have any time previously (the first time I read it was in college, and I loved it, but seeing it performed - as usual with Shakespeare - adds an entirely new, fantastical element that you don't get when you simply read it).

Currently reading:
Hamnet - This is perfect with Shakespeare on the brain. O'Farrell's writing is so lyrical and easy to get caught up in. . I really haven't read a lot of Shakespeare, but feel like the time may be right, especially with Madeline Miller's book focused more on him. I bought my husband this book and it's sitting upstairs in his office, I keep meaning to start it.

Getting back into life in the big City. We bought a 120 year old house that seems like it's going to need all new siding, which is exactly what I wanted to spend my money on, so lucky me! The kids are both in camp. My five year old is in a soccer camp from 9-12 everyday, and when I pick him up he is as read as a lobster, and wants to keep playing soccer. So, I guess he likes it.

I finished two audiobooks this week.
The Other Black Girl. This one was a lot of fun. totally creepy and not what I normally read. But, I liked it. Very "Get Out" in nature.

The Jetsetters. This was another light fluffy book, but there was just no there there. It was OK in the middle, but the end was a let down.

I also read Aria. This was about a girl who was born in Iran in the late fifties. She had multiple "mothers" as she lived through multiple revolutions. I did like it, though it was very sad.

I'm currently still reading The Priory of the Orange Tree. It's a lot of fun. A female driven fantasy type novel. It's just what really could have been a trilogy all bundled into one book, so taking a while.

I've read 69 books this year. I've finished the "regular" challenge. The advanced one is hard because I don't really have a tbr list, though I am working on my bookshelf. Priory is on there, and am using that as my longest.

QOTW: I'm terrible with these types of details. Don't know the Publisher, often don't know the author, lucky if I can remember the title.

Last week, I did a 3 week check in and I genuinely enjoyed most of the books I read. This week, I read some stinkers and no prompts.

The good

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby. Two fathers join forces to hunt down the killers of their sons. Great read. Grisly. CW/TW: horrible reactions to coming out

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard. Thriller. 2 people meet right before lockdown and move in together and one ends up dead. I'm not mad I got this from Book of the Month. The twist at the end didn't annoy the heck out of me like it often does in thrillers.

The not so good

Hearts, Strings and Other Breakable Things by Jacqueline Firkins. YA retelling of Mansfield Park. Hated the main character, she thought she was above everything and whined about another girl being mean to her although that girl started off being really nice until the main character wouldn't stop hitting on her boyfriend. The boy she is "in love" with is bland af. And she treats another boy like crap. I'm not even putting this in my classroom.

Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale. YA? Reads more like middle grade even though the main character is 18. Another main character that was super annoying. She legitimately tells people she was a big deal in high school with no irony. Her boyfriend was supposed to move to NYC to be with her but she texts him, she's moving to Montana and he doesn't have to go to school in NYC and then whines about him only communicating with her in short texts. Also, there's a rather ridiculous "twist".

Second vaccine dose yesterday, so I am fully jabbed! And my arm definitely doesn't hurt as much this time around...

Finished:

Wolf Hall for A book with a family tree. Wow, that was a slog! I think we can safely say I will not be reading the two sequels. The writing style drove me mad!

Unequal Affections: A Pride and Prejudice Retelling forA book you think your best friend would like. I think several of my friends would enjoy this! I was slightly concerned that the premise would turn out to be unworkable, but while the book had its issues, it was a really fun read, which is what I needed!

Started:

The Salt Path for Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. Only just started this, so can't say anything about it yet.

QOTW:

I have to say, I really don't! I'm aware of various large publishing houses, but I don't have favourite ones, and who the publisher is doesn't have any influence on whether I'll read a book or not.

Ellie wrote: "I like to see what the independents are doing, even if they aren't always my taste, it's good to see things that are a bit different. Three that spring to mind are Canongate, Unsung Stories and Peirene."
Ha! Ha! You just helped me fulfill a prompt for a challenge: Read an independently published book. I was unaware Matt Haig is Canongate author, so The Midnight Library worked! 🤗👍

Hello! Minnesota is in a severe drought as well. We got about an inch of rain yesterday, but we need way more though. My lawn has been dead since June, which is only nice because we don't have to mow like the neighbors with their sprinkler systems do. Our city instituted watering only every other day, but it seems like most of the neighborhood ignores it.

Finished This Week:
Wonderful Feels Like This by Sara Lövestam. A YA book set in Sweden for the Read Harder prompt of not set in the US/UK/Canada. I wanted the main character to stand up to the bullies, rather than keep taking their abuse and not reacting, but I understand the "don't engage" mentality she was using. Very nice book, especially if you enjoy jazz music. Not for PS prompt.

Chasing the Moon: The People, the Politics, and the Promise That Launched America Into the Space Age by Robert L. Stone. This wasn't the space book I expected, as it was written from the research for a PBS documentary about the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. It went a lot of different places than the books I've read from Flight Control personnel and the astronauts. The first chapter being about Arthur C Clarke threw me, but I pushed through and enjoyed it. Using for PS prompt #50, library book from TBR.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara. I picked this up for the Reading Women prompt of Longlisted for the JCB Prize. It's ... not what I was expecting. It's about child abduction in the poorest sections of India's big cities, as told by the children. When the first classmate goes missing, Jai thinks he can investigate like the police do on the shows he watches. But the kids keep disappearing. It's not a happy book. Using for RW #1 and ATY #22.

Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol by Holly Whitaker. I became aware of this book when GR had a giveaway for the paperback release (I didn't win). I've always felt out of place after I decided not to drink anymore, and thought this would be more about the culture of drinking, how society treats it, and what it's like being a non-drinker. The first half covers some of that, but the majority of the book is aimed at how to become a non-drinker after recognizing you don't like your relationship with alcohol (the author doesn't like the word alcoholic). The first half was fascinating, about how the alcohol industry is using the same tricks the tobacco industry did, but people ignore it "because Jesus drank!" There's also a chapter about how Alcoholics Anonymous was created by white cis hetero middle class men, and their 12 steps reflect that patriarchy. The author developed her own program to help people stop drinking, focusing on women, as an alternative to AA. That's the second half of the book. Some of that stuff, like working through your trauma and the circumstances that caused you to drink, were quite good. I felt that while the life circumstances didn't apply to me, the steps would be useful to overcome a lot of things. But what I'll remember is that AA is the patriarchy. :) Using for PS #32, starts with Q.

PS: 34/50 RH: 12/24 RW: 16/28 ATY: 44/52 GR: 93/150

Currently Reading: Nothing! I finished Quit Like a Woman late last night and haven't started my next one yet.

Up Next:
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez After failing to read the ebook twice last year, I finally got the physical and updated version from the library. Excited to start it. Not for prompt.

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison. I preordered this, but library books being due kept pushing it back. Thinking will put at front of the line.

QOTW: Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers?
I'm starting to. My library allows us to request books for the library to order (5 per month!), and I've been getting them to order the non-fiction I want to read but don't want to buy. One of the fields on the request form is publisher. I've started to notice who publishers are, but haven't really dug into how they're connected. I normally only go digging when I want to see if something counts as an "indie" publisher.

My favorite, like others have said, is Tor, mostly because they publish the science fiction and fantasy of my favorite authors, but also because they have a good presence online. I read their blogs and get their newsletters, and more often than not buy the books they're promoting.

Melissa wrote: Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara. I picked this up for the Reading Women prompt of Longlisted for the JCB Prize. It's ... not what I was expecting. It's about child abduction in the poorest sections of India's big cities, as told by the children. When the first classmate goes missing, Jai thinks he can investigate like the police do on the shows he watches. But the kids keep disappearing. It's not a happy book. Using for RW #1 and ATY #22.
I read that this year too. I still am not sure what I make of the author's choice of a child narrator. I guess because it is such a serious topic, with adults who can't take care of the children, why not. But, it takes a while to really understand what is going on. It is incredibly sad.

Ashley Marie wrote: "Happy Thursday! The forecast has shifted and we're due for more rain tonight (meh). It's also preview night for the outdoor run of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I'm working on with my local professional theatre company, which means this has been tech week and I am exhausted :) but in a good way, because I missed theatre so much :) Opening night (tomorrow) is not looking promising as we're due for even MORE rain, but we'll figure that out tomorrow."
That sounds like so much fun! Live theatre is so unique!

"As this has been tech week, I've had almost zero time for books when I'm at home, so the two books I've finished have been audiobooks:
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz - 4 stars. Larson is one of my favorite NF authors and he doesn't disappoint!"
I have yet to read one of his books. Maybe this year? *Fingers crossed*
"The Echo Wife - also 4 stars. I couldn't figure out where this was going and I'm already looking forward to an eventual reread."
Sounds very intriguing...

"I'm also counting A Midsummer Night's Dream on my Read list as I've now read it more times in the past week than I have any time previously (the first time I read it was in college, and I loved it, but seeing it performed - as usual with Shakespeare - adds an entirely new, fantastical element that you don't get when you simply read it)."
That is such a good point regarding a performance of Shakespeare versus just reading it...

"Currently reading:
Hamnet - This is perfect with Shakespeare on the brain."
I had to chuckle at that! I bet!

"O'Farrell's writing is so lyrical and easy to get caught up in."
Yet another author I keep meaning to read!

"Back burner/on hold til I have Free Time:
The Unbroken
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
I'm deeply invested in both, but neither lends themselves to "bedtime reading" when you're routinely crashing at 1:30-2am."
Ack! I bet not!

"Upcoming:
The White Rose - I'm so late, this is a BR for another group that started last week and I still haven't even been able to touch it. I adore theatre but it does throw my reading schedule out the window."
Yes, but life needs a bit of diversity!

"QOTW: Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers?
I tend to gravitate toward Tor and Orbit (fantasy). The Big Four do seem to have quite the monopoly on publishing at the moment, so I'm always interested in smaller indie publishers. I've seen some sloppy stuff editing-wise come out of Amazon's SourceBooks imprint, so I tend to be wary of them. Riverhead Books (a subsidiary of Penguin) consistently puts out good material."
I just went to the SourceBooks website and saw no mention of Amazon... Interesting.

Happy Thursday! It's definitely summer. Bleh. Heat and humidity. Not my favourite. Swimming though? Bring it on!

Finished 30/50

The Kingdom of Copper for "book by a Muslim American author". I liked this one better than book one, The City of Brass. A lot more plot and intrigue. Reading from Ali's perspective is like looking in a mirror, though. I felt rather called out by that. ***Maybe that would be a good question of the week? Is there a book character that is eerily similar to you whether in looks or personality?*** Ali's personality is so much like mine, we even have the same flaws and people complain about us in the same way. It was WEIRD reading that!

Currently Reading

Cress for "magical realism book". I think this counts. I thought I saw that Cinder was on the list for this category in this group, so in theory any book in the series should be. Correct me if I'm wrong.

QotW

I do with Eastern Orthodox books because English Orthodox publishers are so hard to find (and mainstream American Christian publishing houses typically won't publish Orthodox books). Ancient Faith and St. Vladimir Seminary Press are the two biggest ones I know of, but Park End Books just got on the scene publishing Orthodox books too, and I think Paraclete Press might as well. The American Orthodox book scene is pretty new (strangely), so it's exciting finding new books and places willing to publish them.

I also tend to notice Tyndale books if only because I used to work directly in front of the Tyndale building and walk around their pond during breaks. XD

Otherwise I typically don't notice publishers (unless I need a book of a specific translation...then publishing houses come into play because not all translations are equal!).

Dani wrote: "Good morning from Columbus! I keep saying I’m going to be better at checking in here but yet, I am not getting any better at it lol."
But you're here now! 🤗

"The Empire of Gold not for the challenge (also read the first two books in the trilogy, The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper recently). I’ve had the first book on my shelf for ages but am just now getting around to reading them."
Cool!

"Anna K: A Love Story a modern retelling of Anna Karenina but set in New York with super rich people. I don’t know how I ended up with this book; and while it held my attention, it really didn’t have the same charm. And I could really have gone my whole life without reading graphic descriptions of 16 year olds’ sexual adventures 😬."
Oh, no! Just...no!

"QOTW: I follow a lot of publishers on IG to see new releases but I don’t favor one to another"
A good idea!

DNF:

Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager by Buzz Bissinger

If you love Tony La Russa, the St. Louis Cardinals, or baseball in general, then you will probably love this book. I read about 25% of it and mostly enjoyed it, but I also felt satisfied with the experience at that point.

Finished:

Strangers from the Sky by Margaret Wander Bonanno (4/5)

Besides Spock's World, this is the top book to read if you want a major feature role for the Vulcans. The terrorists, Sawyer, and the wizard did not work very well for me, but for the most part, the book is amazing.

Elusive Salvation by Dayton Ward (3/5)

I got my fill of Roberta Lincoln in the Eugenics Wars duology and "Assignment: Earth" episode, so I pretty much just read the 23rd century portions and skimmed the rest.

Currently Reading:

Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines by Karen Traviss
Duty, Honor, Redemption by Vonda N. McIntyre
Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David Maraniss

Question of the Week:

I know who the big publishing houses are and a few of their imprints, but it doesn't really influence my purchase decisions. What matters from my reader perspective is the quality and interest level of the book being published.

My friend's mother worked in some capacity for DK, back when they were Dorling Kindersley. That increased my awareness and appreciation for that company's products. I was very happy to see them publishing the visual dictionaries and cross section books for Star Wars around 1999 and beyond.

Qotw: One of my favorite bookstores is Boulder Bookstore because they have some sections organized by publisher and I appreciate that.

I used to really pay attention to Red Leaf Press when that was relevant in my life. They publish early childhood education books. I also like O/R which publishes leftist political books. I also like academic presses such as Oxford or MIT. Other than that, I don't really pay much attention, though I feel like I *ought* to.

Finished: The Beekeeper of Aleppo My kitty cat died this week. So even though I read a bunch while sitting up with her, it was very intermittent because I was so focused on her. Every time she would lift her head, I'd prop her up, and while she was still able to walk, I'd try to figure out where she wanted to go and help her along her path. It was very intense and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world! So this book accompanied me on the journey and will now have a special resonance because of that.

We also read:
The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
The Cat Who Went to Heaven
and The Joy of Listening to God

Since then, I've been reading Restaurant Psychology for Everyone for a book that takes place in a restaurant, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev for book with gem in the title, and How to Be Vegan: Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for Cruelty-Free Eating, Living, Dating, Travel, Decorating, and More because I'm trying to gradually become vegan. It is *much* harder to be vegan than vegetarian which I have been off and on through the years.

Lynn wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "O'Farrell's writing is so lyrical and easy to get caught up in."
Yet another author I keep meaning to read!"
I haven't read anything else from O'Farrell yet but based on how much I'm enjoying this I definitely want to check out more!

Lynn wrote: "I just went to the SourceBooks website and saw no mention of Amazon... Interesting. "
Oh thanks for catching that! For some reason I was positive Sourcebooks was an Amazon imprint. But, nope! Indie all the way.

Sheri wrote: "It's also been very rainy here in Michigan. Had a decent day yesterday, back to being cloudy and grey yesterday."
We've been getting some rain almost every day. Fortunately, nothing like the floods they've been experiencing in Germany and Belgium. That is so sad... We've gotten just enough to make everything grow really well this summer.

"This week I finished:
Act Your Age, Eve Brown - this was a fun read, I like all the Brown sisters. I used this for Read Harder's fat-positive romance, book nerds character you'd be bff with."
I definitely plan to give this series a try!

"Bite Me If You Can- re read, had a bad migraine all weekend so needed something that didn't require real concentration."
I trust that you listened to this? When I have a migraine there is absolutely no way I can read...

"Currently reading:
Queen of the Conquered - this is a bit slow going. Reminds me of the Traitor Baru Cormarant. It's not BAD but i'm having trouble really getting into it, and not really looking forward to picking it up. But I'm counting it for my book starting with a Q, X, or Z so i'm sticking with it."
I hope it becomes more enjoyable.

"A Closed and Common Orbit - doing an audio book re-read while i cross stitch or do art."
One of my favorite series!

"QOTW:
I don't really pay much attention to the publisher. I do follow Tor on facebook/mailing list like many others, because they give monthly free sci fi/fantasy books, free shorts on their website, and in general publish genres I really like reading. But if i go see a book I like, I don't really go look at the publisher or pay much attention"
I think that is more common that not. 🙂

Sherri wrote: "Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner. This was for a different challenge. The prompt was to read a body positive romance. I could of used it for the pop sugar prompt about body positivity"
I would like to read this yet this year!

"Starfish by Lisa Fipps came in so I used that for pop sugar. I loved Starfish. If you haven’t done the body positivity prompt yet look this book up. This is a middle grade,poetry,realistic fiction book. 5 stars. A quick read. The book did a great job showing what it’s like being over weight in middle school. It talks about the bullying from classmates & from her family."
That sounds amazing!

"QOTW: I don’t pay too much attention to publishers but I record them in my reading journal. Last year I did discover Quirk Books when I read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. I was seriously considering making a spreadsheet of publishers at the end of the year from the books I read. This way I can see if there is a pattern.."
That would be an interesting study!

When you think a huge surge in covid-cases is the worst thing that could happen to your country… Nature: hold my beer. Endless and huge amounts of rain are coming down (yes, rain here too), rivers are flooding, once nice small streams turn into wild rivers. Towns in the south of our region are evacuating and we are next up in line… It’s going to be close Saturday, but the expectation is that we are safe, although some parts of our town will be lightly flooded. I am very selfish hoping I can still get my second covid-vaccination tomorrow, the vaccination center is next to the river… Meanwhile I’m assisting the crisis-team at the municipality with web analysis of our website.

26/40
Finished
Een nieuw sociaal contract by Pieter Omtzigt - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Prompt: #34, a book about a social justice issue

A Dutch MP has written a book about the biggest government scandal ever in the Netherlands: the childcare benefits scandal. About 26.000 parents have been wrongly accused of making fraudulent benefit claims. They had to pay back tens of thousands of euros and were driven into debt and poverty. It was impossible to get information on what they had done wrong or why they were accused of fraud. And making it worse: the judges presumed the government is always right. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Omtzigt and other MP’s, the truth is finally brought to light. This book is on how the government could crush these citizens, what is wrong in our public system and how we can repair it.

Currently reading
De Dertigjarige Oorlog: De allereerste wereldoorlog 1618-1648
Tand des tijds

QOTW
No, I don’t pay attention to who the publisher is.

Hi everyone, I haven't checked in in months. I have been participating in the challenge however and I am 24/50 currently. It's been rainy here in Cleveland. I'm getting ready for a trip to Brooklyn, New York to see my partner after not seeing him for over a year because of the pandemic. I'm really excited!! I'm thoroughly enjoying summer. I've been reading but most of my books haven't been or the challenge. The one's I've completed for the challenge have been:

] for the magical realism prompt #28 This book gave me a pleasant surprise since I thought one thing was going on but by the end, I realized something else was happening. I really enjoyed the story because it was fresh and new to me.

for prompt #13 a locked room mystery. This book reminded me so much of an Agatha Christie novel. I listened to the audiobook version and it was a full cast production and it really came alive while I listen to it. The ending was wonderful!!!

I chose this book for prompt #15 A book with a black and white cover. I initially was going to read this book anyway but decided to use it as a prompt. The amount of research that went into this book was important but the author as a black woman gave so many examples, sometimes personal, where her race was a factor in how she was treated as a person of the lower caste. I knew about the caste system in India but didn't know to the extent that's it's enforced and recognized. I also learned how the Nazis used examples from the Jim Crow south how to treat Jewish people.

I used this book as prompt #45 a book that has been on your TBR the longest. I listened to this book as well. Roots have been on my tbr since I was probably in my 20's. I've always wanted to read it since I saw the miniseries. I was surprised just how different the book was compared to the mini-series. That whole scene in the mini-series where Kunta Kinte was whipped and told that his name was Toby never happened in the book.

Currently reading:
Stepping Off the Relationship Escalator: Uncommon Love and Life not for any prompt. I'll be reviewing it my blog.
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World for prompt #44 the book on your tbr with the ugliest cover.

QOTW: Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers?
I don't really pay attention to publishers but I like to support BIPOC and small publishhers.

Lynn,

No I read it. I still read when I have migraines, I can't NOT read, but I do tend to switch to physical books that i've read before so I don't have to concentrate.

Kenya wrote: "@Nadine -- can you send some of that rain our way? Idaho is under severe drought conditions at the moment. It's not just bad for farmers and gardeners, but it means we're going to have an awful fire season this year..."
I listened to news about all the drought in the west...again...last night on the radio. I would be in favor of sharing, if only that was possible!

"Books read this week:
The Ice Lion -- please don’t ask me why I pushed myself to finish this one. It was an interesting premise, but unbelievably boring and with bland, uninteresting characters. I’m told this author’s a good one, so maybe this was just a dud on their part?"
But you did power through. 😊

"Toad Words And Other Stories -- story collection by one of my favorite authors. If you like fairy tale retellings that feature fascinating heroines and sly (but not grim-dark) twists on familiar tales, give this one a shot!"
I see it is only in ebook format. Ugh.

"DNF:
The Pygmy Dragon -- yeesh…
Under the Pendulum Sun -- another case of “great premise, lousy exeuction.”"
Glad you didn't waste your time...

"Currently Reading:
A Psalm for the Wild-Built"
Definitely anxious to see what you think of this one!

"QOTW:
I honestly don't pay a lot of attention to publishers... though I admit to enjoying the output of Tor and Orbit (even if those are imprints and not actual publishing houses)"
Those both seem to be very popular with this crowd so far!

Happy Thursday! I've had pretty much no ability to concentrate on reading this month- finally finished my first book this morning. But today starts my week off from work- first vacation in 2 years! So I plan on getting in a lot of reading time!

Finished:
Quicksand- for #32 book starting with q/x/z, this book was so short and took me so long to read. It was just very bleak, so every few pages I'd set it down and not want to pick it up again.

QotW:
I usually don't pay much attention to publishers, unless I'm looking for more books that have been translated. Then I search through overdrive by publishers.

Katy wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Katy wrote: "I finished The Owl Killers as my genre hybrid. It was weird but good."
That's one I won't be tackling... "

Well, I wouldn't let me calling something weird deter you , if ..."

Nah. I had already noted that it wasn't a book I would enjoy... :)

Hi all! As Nadine said, rain, rain, rain.... We've had a little bit of flooding, but nothing life-threatening. I've often thought there should be some sort of underground storage tank system connected across the country so flooding in 1 area can be sent to droughts in another.... It seems like something we should be able to do in the 21st century.

I finished The Housekeeper and the Professor for a book about forgetting. Oh my goodness! What a sweet story! I think this will be my favorite book of the year. I might have to buy a copy.

I'm currently reading In the Forest, which is pretty dark, but I'm enjoying it. Also reading The Perfect Horse: the Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis, which isn't light and pleasant, either, now that I think about it! And for the trifecta of miserable books, Les Miserables which I'm reading as a buddy read. I'm not sure if any of these will fill prompts, but I imagine I can find something.

QOTW: I don't really pay attention to publishers, but I think there are probably some I like more than others because of the feel of the books.

This has been a pretty rough week for me, allergy-wise. As a result, I’ve done far more sleeping than reading. Thanks Benadryl!

POPSUGAR: 28/50
Beat the Backlist: 39/52
Goodreads: 187/200

Finished Reading:
~The Cousins

Currently Reading:
~Baptism of Fire
~The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You've Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way
~The Lost and Found Bookshop
~A Blade So Black

QOTW:
I really don’t pay attention to publishers.

Ashley Marie wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "O'Farrell's writing is so lyrical and easy to get caught up in."
Yet another author I keep meaning to read!"
I haven't read anything else from O'Farrell yet but ba..."

What's so weird is that I thought I had read somewhere that it was owned by Amazon! LOL

I suppose it could be and they're just not advertising the fact!

Poor Sourcebooks! I have a feeling Amazon had a print on demand service with a similar name at one point. According to Wikipedia PRH now own 45% of Sourcebooks, so it's a bit less independent but definitely not Amazon.

I’m back in the office at least half the week lately, my daughter is getting ready to move 600 miles away for her freshman year of college, we’re buying a new (to us) car, and we are in the final stages of outfitting our new screened porch. Life is busy, but it’s a good busy!

It’s been ages, so here’s my massive update!

Finished

Stephen King's N. - A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels) - I’m a Stephen King fan, a Lovecraft/cosmic horror fan, and I have mild OCD. This is like the perfect story for me. Also a cool history, with it being released online, then adapted to graphic novel/video format.

The House in the Cerulean Sea - A book everyone seems to have read but you - Finally came to the top of the library queue so I can participate in the conversation! I liked this a lot, but I’d say it’s 4/5 in the end. I feel like lately a lot of people are raving about SFF books that are cozy and gentle . . . almost to the point of having no plot or conflict. Which is understandable, given recent history! But I find I do like a little more bite in my stories, even if they have cozy elements or happy endings.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January - The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover - Case in point! I LOVED this book. LOOOOVVVVED. Yes I cried a few times. Yes, I worried for the welfare of a dog! But overall it was a really positive experience, in part because the stakes were so high for me. Great characters, amazing world-building (this reminded me of how many tales involve Doors, yet this felt very fresh), and prose that was just the right balance - beautiful and artful without being overblown and intrusive.

The Black Stone Statue - A book about art or an artist - A short story read-along with my favorite podcast. I really liked it - reminiscent of Robert W. Chambers, but with a little more genre-mixing. Fun!

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - A bestseller from the 1990s - So glad I noticed this was published in 1990! And right after finishing it, I noticed my online trivia league was having a special quiz on the book and show! (I still only got 50% right - it was a hard quiz!)


Currently Reading

The Thursday Murder Club - A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover - Fun so far, but hasn’t engaged my “what happens next” receptors yet.

You're On Your Own (But I'm Here if You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years - A book about a subject you are passionate about - Oldest child is moving away to college! Of course I’m passionate about being a good College Parent!

QOTW

I never pay attention except that I get the Tor newsletter and enjoy their free online stories!

This was one of those weeks where I started quite a few books but didn't finish many. I've joined the library limit club.


Finished:
CatStronauts: Mission Moon - This is so weird. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I thought it would be just this cute little graphic novel, but it's got some good detail in there. For example, they called for a go/no go from capcom! I mean, hell yeah. But then there would be TOTALLY STUPID things like ALL of the catstronauts going outside of the capsule at once, and not even in EVA suits! I just don't know.

84, Charing Cross Road - This was lovey.


Set Aside:
Radiance - I was listening to the audio but had to stop. I could hear inflections in the dialogue that the narrator wasn't using and it was very distracting. I think this one's just going to have to wait until I can read a physical book that long again.

The Last Human - Started it when Eighty Days had to go back to the library, but then it came back to be like two days later! I ran out of time on this one about 2/3 through. Now I need to wait for it to circle back to me and hope I'm in the mood to finish it then.


Currently Reading:
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World - Really enjoying this but the chapters with each woman are so long that when it switches to the other I get bent out of shape for a minute.

The Decagon House Murders - Trying to read this ebook. I think I can!

The Areas of My Expertise: An Almanac of Complete World Knowledge Compiled with Instructive Annotation and Arranged in Useful Order - I haven't picked it up this week because I've been bouncing around so many others, but I'm still looking forward to getting back to it.


QOTW:
I pay attention a bit. I follow quite a few on social media, but I rarely look at those anymore. I keep my eye a bit on Tor because they have been publishing some books I have loved in the last few years. I find I enjoy several from Quirk. I did put a Persephone book in my cart the other day, then moved it to my wishlist. Scholastic is usually solid. It's a bit odd for me though, since so much of my reading is now audio.

Thinking about it a bit, I think I'm like this: Instead of following publishers looking for books, if I am interested in a book and see it's published by someone I've enjoyed several books from before, it's like a little extra bonus point.

It's been a long week, so this is a short check-in for me. I finished one of book club reads and found a prompt that fit (hooray!). That brings me to a little closer to the halfway point for this challenge. I'm now at 18/40 and 2/10, and 37/100 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Finished:
* The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, which was one of my book club's picks for July. Should be an interesting discussion next weekend! Since the book is set in France and the U.S., I slated this in for "a book set in multiple countries."

Currently Reading:
* You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy, which is my other book club's pick for July (also discussing next weekend).
* Shell Game by Sara Paretsky, which has no July book club tie -- I just needed a fun read and V.I. Warshawski always delivers for me.

QotW:
Do you pay attention to who the publisher is? Do you have any favorite publishers? I do pay attention to a certain degree. I follow several publishers on social media and receive several publishers' newsletters. A few of my favorites are Soho Press, Minotaur, Atria, Ecco, and William Morrow. I also really liked Midnight Ink when they were still in business.

Doni wrote: "The Beekeeper of Aleppo My kitty cat died this week. So even though I read a bunch while sitting up with her, it was very intermittent because I was so focused on her. ..."


I am so sorry for you loss. They always take a piece of our heart with them.


And yeah, I could never be vegan. I cook mostly vegetarian (my daughter is a vegetarian), and that's very easy for me. I buy my dairy & eggs from small local farms when I can.

Harmke wrote: "A Dutch MP has written a book about the biggest government scandal ever in the Netherlands: the childcare benefits scandal. About 26.000 parents have been wrongly accused of making fraudulent benefit claims. They had to pay back tens of thousands of euros and were driven into debt and poverty. It was impossible to get information on what they had done wrong or why they were accused of fraud. And making it worse: the judges presumed the government is always right. ..."


That sounds terrifying!

I think I’m finally completely settled after my move. I did so much cleaning over the weekend. I don’t think my apartment was actually cleaned before I moved in. I don’t love my apartment or where it’s located. It’s in between everything, but nothing is actually here. But it’ll be fine for a year while I figure out which neighborhood I actually want to live in.

It looks like I’ll have many audiobooks in my future. I have 5 long-ish solo car trips planned for the rest of the year. Plus I’ll have a brand new daily commute to work starting in October. I’m happy about the audiobooks and that I’ll get to see so many friends and family members this year. It’s going to be a lot of time on the road, but worth it.

Finished
Next Year in Havana by Chantel Cleeson (a DNF book from your TBR). The first time I tried to read this, I hated it. But it was okay this time. I’m happy my choice for this prompt was at least okay.

Reading

I’m going to be really honest here. I’m not really reading any of the books that I usually put in this list. At this point, I think I might wipe the slate clean, start something brand new, and see if I feel like finishing any of the ... 4? ... books I started and have been “reading” for a couple months some other time.

QOTW
I don’t really pay attention to publishers. I used to back when I read more genre indie novels, but I’ve moved away from those lately.

Three week check-in. Life was derailed by a sudden medical issue that took me out for a couple of weeks. And of course my birthday was during that time. Two years in a row my birthday plans have fallen through. Please come through for me, July 2022!

Once that drama was finished, I spent a few days visiting my best friend. She lives only an hour away, but I got a hotel room for a couple of nights there. We went to a movie (my first in over 15 months) and a play, and ate lots of good food. I restored my soul by sitting at the river with ducks and geese at my feet in the cool of the morning, and spending time at the campus of my alma mater reminiscing about the good old days. Came home rested and refreshed.

The weather has been incredibly hot (over 100 every day) and we are in a terrible drought. Yellow lawns everywhere. Harsh judgment from me when anyone has a nice lawn. haha

Finished
Towards Zero by Agatha Christie - 4 stars; not for challenge
My June Christie. Quite enjoyed this one. A bit different than the usual. No Poirot or Marple in sight.

Dear Justyce by Nic Stone - 5 stars; PS #40 previous prompt [2020 WOC author]
I loved this one maybe even more than Dear Martin, and that's saying a lot. Quan's story will be my go-to when trying to explain how systemic racism works. If anyone asks for a recommendation on a book on racism, tell them to start with these two. It clearly defines issues that will then make more sense when reading heavier stuff.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - 4 stars; PS #9 (family tree)
I really enjoyed this journey by a very unreliable narrator as I had no clue where it was going.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 4 stars; not for challenge
Then ended up being an unexpectedly personal read. This family story was way too much like my own, without the fame, money, and beach. The scene where the father tries to explain why he has been a shitty father was almost word-for-word out of my father's mouth. If only I had been able to reply as Nina did. Too late now. Anyway, while this was a little painful to read, I gained some great insights. Once again, she is still one of my favorite authors for her ability to get inside people's heads.

Currently reading:
Moby-Dick or, the Whale by Herman Melville - I'm getting there. On audiobook disk 17 out of 19.
Sooley by John Grisham
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Goodreads: 60/100
Popsugar: 37/45, 4/10

QOTW: The only time I pay attention to publishers is if I'm trying to find a particular edition on Goodreads to mark.