Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Happy Thursday!!

This past Monday lasted a whole week, but Tuesday and Wednesday are a blur and now I can't believe it's Thursday already.  I have had back-to-back meetings all week starting at 7am and it's turning into 12 hour days and wearing me down.  I don't mind meetings, but I need some downtime to just breathe, and I need time to do all the things we talk about in the meetings.  I feel like I'm barely treading water right now.

We are still adjusting to Lily being away at college - I think I'm cooking too much food for dinner, the leftovers are starting to pile up!


Admin stuff:
There's one more week left in August, for the August group read of Catherine House.

We still need discussion leaders for October (Anxious People) and December (Malibu Rising).  Don't hesitate to step up if it sounds interesting!  These have both been very popular books so I'm sure there will be good discussions.


This week I finished one book, not for this Challenge, so I remain 37/50.

You Don’t Have to Go to Mars for Love poems by Yona Harvey- I really enjoyed these poems!!   She plays with language and rhythm and jumps between modern slang and historical and current events.



Question of the Week
In honor of back-to-school season:
Do you remember learning to read?

I do not!  I know I was young, not yet in school.  Because I couldn't remember learning, I was a bit worried about how to teach my kids.  But it turns out that reading to your kids every night really does teach them how to read!  Because they both picked it up around the age of 3, by the time they were 4 they could read quite well.   

[forgive my mom brag now] When my younger daughter was in preschool, they put on a "school play" and one role was the "narrator" who stood at a podium and read the descriptions.  Afterward, another dad came up to me so impressed by how well she could read and asking me how I had taught her, did we use a special tutor or method?  And I could only shrug and say "I just read to her."

Happy Thursday!

I had a good time with my sister and her friends last weekend, and predictably ended up with poison ivy thanks to stepping outdoors. It's not bad at all, so I shan't complain too much ;) And I finished a pair of books this week!

4 stars each to
And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis - A solid telling, but I'm feeling myself pulled away from recent-historical fiction after this one.
Fugitive Telemetry - Hilarious, as per usual. Locked-room mystery

PS 42/50

Currently:
Queen of the Night Starts with Q, X, or Z - the final book in this series and I'm actually finding myself nitpicking at the overuse of fragments (and it's still early! yikes!)
The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog - started this last night and ahhhhh wolfies!! <33
Dream Country - book 3 in the Sandman graphic novel series. This series is WEIRD but I really like it!
The Hangman's Daughter - I actually started this a few weeks ago and made it through the prologue and (I think?) chapter one. Hoping to carve out more time for it once I rip through Dream Country.
The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna - audio! CW Gortner's historical fiction always moves quickly. I just started this morning and I'm enjoying myself so far.

^^ Hoping to get through at least two of these by the end of the month, next week. September is busy between a pair of weddings (both of which I'm in), rehearsals for my next show, and a pair of overnighters for mental health reasons. I'll be here in October, no worries :D

QOTW: Do you remember learning to read?
I don't really, aside from being told innumerable times to "sound it out", but we have plenty of pictures of reading my Peter Rabbit pop-up book with my parents when I was about 3, and reading various books with my grandparents. I vividly remember first grade (age 6) and rolling my eyes SO HARD because classmates would routinely mix up "stared" and "started" when we did circle time and each read a single sentence of a story.

happy thursday to everyone!

I had nothing that interesting to share since it's been raining a lot and I just can't go out or I'll end up sick, but I can for sure hope you are doing great☆

QOTW:
I remember learning chunks (like "Mi mamá me mima", I'm a native Spanish speaker) when I was at school, I was 6 in 1st year and it was reaaaally boring! I have an elder sister and I spent almost all the time next to her even when she was studying so it was quite easy for me.

However I do remember learning to read in English. I was in 11th year and I started by reading some hollywood gossip news. I had to search for almost every single word, but then it became easier. I think I mastered my skills during my freshmen year of the English Teaching Program as I read a lot and had the opportunity to share and discuss my ideas and reflections on the readings for the very first time.

Hi everyone. I haven't checked in for a while but I've been lurking. Work has been insanely busy. This time last year, about 75% of our staff were made redundant and now we're back open, we're really struggling to hire people. It's been stressful but after my shift today I'm on annual leave for two weeks so I'm going to erase it all from my brain and hope the situation will have improved on my return.

This week I finished The Mysterious Island. I know i haven't read it before but I kept getting some serious deja vu over some sections. I feel like as a child I must have read an abridged edition or an excerpt because the memory of them building the house in the cave is so vivid in my head. Last year I read The Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe a few years earlier. I much preferred this over both of them. Less preachy and more actual adventure.

Currently reading: In the Full Light of the Sun So far, I really dislike every character but I think that is intentional...maybe?

QOTW: I don't remember learning to read but my mum likes to tell this story about our neighbour bragging about her kid's reading and not believing my mum when she said I'd read the same book (I was about 2 years younger than her son), so my mum got me to read one of my books to her. She still didn't believe it and said my mum had taught me the book by heart, so my mum pointed to individual words and got me to read them.

About a decade later the same woman was caught in a lie bragging that her daughter was top of the classes I was actually top in so I guess she didn't change

I did the thing again where I started too many books. In my defense, each book is in a different format. They all have really strong beginnings and I want to read them all at once. I think the Agatha Christie wins, though, because I just got to the murder.

Finished

Nothing finished because I kept starting new books.

Reading
Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie (a locked room mystery)

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (a book by an Indigenous author)

Librarian Tales: Funny, Strange, and Inspiring Dispatches from the Stacks by William Ottens (a book by a blogger)

Hydra by Holly Scott (a book chosen at random from your TBR)

QOTW
Yes, I do remember. I remember sitting next to my mom on the sofa while she taught me. My grandparents sent her to school unprepared. (She didn't speak English. My grandparents did and knew she would need it for school, but didn't ever speak it at home.) She always felt behind and dumb because she was learning English while the other kids were learning the lesson. She bought a set of books designed to help kids learn to read. She also taught me colors, shapes, and counting before kindergarten.

This week I finished:

False Witness: This was good, but not my favorite Karin Slaughter for sure. I thought it was a really interesting portrayal of sisterhood and drug abuse, but I really don't want to read books set during COVID, and the characters made such terrible choices that it was hard to empathize with them at times.

The Mary Shelley Club: Last week I posted that I wasn't sure that I should commit to this book because it was pretty long, but I am SO glad that I did. I ended up finishing it in a day, and it was exactly what I didn't know I wanted to read. I thought it was really interesting and kept me on my toes. I found myself smiling a lot through the book and racing to get to the end. There was also some fantastically-done foreshadowing throughout the book that kept my brain working too. A++ from me.

Not a Happy Family: This author's books are always good, but rarely great, and that's what I thought of this one as well. I definitely enjoyed reading it, but it isn't going to be a book I remember much about later.

Currently reading:

Dangerous Play: This one is going to be very hard to rate. It started out incredibly, but the vigilantism takes the book too far in a direction that I don't think it needs to/should go. Part of me really understands the impulse to make the lessons physical, but I think the book could have a more positive, impactful message if it didn't tread in that direction, because the first third of the book really packs a gut punch without it. I'm going to reserve judgement until I finish though. I still have the last third of the book to go.

The Obsession: I just started this one and it is icking me out a little bit so far, so I'm hoping once the perspective changes, it will become more relatable.

QOTW:

I remember pieces of learning to read, but what I remember more was always how reading made me feel (smart and curious and adventurous and excited and safe (it still does!)). It is a popular story among my family and close family friends that I carried a book with me everywhere I went, from the time I could walk and I would climb into people's laps and basically demand that they read to me. When I was about 3, my grandmother would only read to me, if I read the book back to her when she was done, so I learned pretty quick that way and I never stopped. She was the absolute best out-loud reader that I ever met. She would still read to me sometimes even into my 30s.

Good Morning All, I finished two books for the week. One book was actually for the Pop Sugar Challenge. Becoming Duchess Goldblatt: A Memoir by Duchess Goldblatt. A book published anonymously. I struggled finding a book I wanted to read that was published anonymously. I didn't know anything about this book or who (or what?) Duchess Goldblatt was. It took me to page 70 to figure it out & start enjoying the book. Also I cheated & googled Duchess Goldblatt because I was spending all my time trying to figure out who the author was. I figured I didn't have skin in this game so it helped me relax into the book. My library books are finally coming in. I'm currently reading The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson for a subject you're passionate about. I'm not liking it like I thought I would. The protagonist is really upsetting me. My other book I completed was The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1) by Richard Osman. I really enjoyed it.
Do you remember learning to read? Yes and No. This will date me. I remember reading & loving Dick & Jane. I think I was reading before then but can't remember.

This week has been a disaster so far. Also our return to the office has been postponed by another month, but that's not part of the disaster.

I have 6 books left for the Popsugar challenge, and 3 books left for ATY. I probably won't be able to finish any of the other challenges.

Finished:
Queenie I vividly remember others commenting on Queenie's bad decisions. Oh boy, was everyone right. Read for book starting with Q, X or Z.
Sourdough Read for book that's been on my TBR the longest. Weird, but a pleasant distraction.

Reading:
War and Peace I am actually only reading this right now, other than an audiobook. I am at 70% and really enjoying it.
Practical Magic on audio

QOTW:
I don't remember learning to read, but according to my parents I was reading newspapers at 3. I guess we didn't own children's books.
I do remember learning English in school as an immigrant. I was in 5th grade. They did not have ESL or ENL teachers at that time, so my homeroom teacher helped me by cutting out pictures and labeling them in English.
It's also very common in the Russian community to not teach the kids English at all at home. I always assumed it was because the parents didn't speak English either, rather than a choice.

Happy Thursday, y’all.

Boy, I had a lot of DNFs this week... wonder if it's just me or if I just had the lousy luck to pick not-so-good books...

Books read this week:

James Herriot's Cat Stories -- I’d read a few of these stories before (in children’s book format), but it was still great reading them again. And as a cat lover I found these stories heartwarming and delightful.

Remnant Population -- I didn’t love this as much as I loved the author’s The Speed of Dark, but it was still entertaining. And nice to see an older person -- especially an older woman -- playing the role of a hero in a sci-fi adventure.

Poor Things -- part zombie novel, part cosmic horror novel. Had some promise but seemed way too concerned with being edgy as heck. Pouring in nonstop blood, gore, and body horror doesn’t make a good horror novel, people…

The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow -- sequel to The Okay Witch, and a fun witchy graphic novel for teens… that has some unexpected but fitting messages about oppression and prejudice that don’t feel tacked on.

DNF:

The City of Brass -- just was not getting into it. Think I prefer A Master of Djinn for my “fantasies with djinn” fix…

Three Moments of an Explosion -- short story collection, though I’m starting to wonder if China Mieville’s writing just isn’t for me. I don’t mind weird fiction, but there’s “weirdness that suits the story” and there’s “weirdness for weirdness’ sake,” and it feels like this collection falls under the latter.

The Lost Things Club -- the premise had potential, but using a school shooting as the catalyst for the plot just seems kind of tone-deaf, especially since the plot does little to actually address the kid most affected by it. And the main character was just too self-absorbed for me.

Currently Reading:

All Creatures Great and Small
Starship Troopers
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Exhalation

QOTW:

I don't remember learning how to read -- I have clear memories of my dad reading books to me and being able to read the text along with him. And I also remember reading the "Buffy and Mack" books at school (similar to Dick and Jane I suppose) and thinking "wow, these are BORING!" XD My parents didn't find out I knew how to read until a couple weeks into kindergarten when the teacher informed my mom that I was correcting her when she'd read stories aloud and skip a few words...

Happy Thursday! What a week this has been...busy but I also caught up on work (how did that happen?!)

Finished:

Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering. This was an easy and quick read, fans of Lucy Foley will like this book.

Started:

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark. I had to read the description of this one a few times to understand the premise, but now I get it. It reminds me of the book (and HBO show) Lovecraft Country. This book would make an excellent miniseries!

QOTW:

I don't specifically remember learning to read, but I was definitely a reader! I was the kid who was under the covers with a flashlight and the latest Goosebumps book. I couldn't devour those books fast enough. Then on to Fear Street, and so on and so forth. My mom was an avid reader and never questioned what I read so even in middle school when she would read a book (her favorite genre was mystery/thriller) she passed it on to me and we would talk about it.

I remember reading to my grandmother whose English was not very good, so when I was learning to read I would read to her and it helped her with her English.

Kenya wrote: "The City of Brass -- just was not getting into it. Think I prefer A Master of Djinn for my “fantasies with djinn” fix…"

Agreed! I was so excited for City of Brass and it completely fizzled on me.

Hi all! I forgot to put my headphones in my purse so no audiobook for me today :_(

Strongly considering going to the walgreens down the street during my lunch break...

Finished

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom: really interesting, I had never heard of him before, and eccentric is the right word.

Currently Reading

I ran out of time to finish the audiobook of The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History so I am back on the library hold list for it. I just checked out the audiobook for Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery to listen to in the meantime, but alas I won't be starting it today. I'm also reading The Anthropocene Reviewed one essay at a time, to savor it.

QOTW
Almost forgot the qotw! I was slow to learn to read; so much so that I was put in a remedial reading class in 1st grade. Apparently it worked because by 3rd grade my teacher wanted me tested for the gifted program. Apparently at the parent teacher conference when my teacher told my mom I was the best reader in the class, she just about fell off her chair. I don't really remember much about learning to read, except agonizing sessions of sitting on the couch painfully reading the most boring books invented by mankind. Seriously, who writes the 'learn to read' books and why don't they make them more fun?? My sister had the same problem and we both became voracious readers.

Work has me absolutely buried, so I am ignoring it to read. I just had a conversation with a co-worker saying that I can not function without a book, and I actually work better while listening to an audiobook.

Just Finished:
Any Way the Wind Blows- very meh. I liked how it wrapped up the loose ends, but the characters are just unlikable.
A Good Day for Chardonnay- I loved the Charley Davidson series, but this book just felt cheesy

Currently Reading:
Plain Bad Heroines- this is SO GOOD
Our Dark Duet- Huge fan of this author
If It Bleeds- Audiobook version has Will Patton as a narrator, and his voice is golden
Love in a Nutshell- fluffy fun

QOTW:
I remember NOT learning. I had a really, really difficult time catching on, and it just seemed all Greek to me. The teacher's aide took me aside for part of the day, and she would read and go over some of the concepts. Then all of a sudden: BAM! It was like two pieces snapping together, and I went from reading nothing to reading EVERYTHING.
My parents read to me every night, so when I had my daughters I always had/have a book going. I try to read to them whenever I can.

Happy Thursday! It's so hot. I'm ready for autumn.

Finished 35/50

Love Finds You in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for "book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021". Ugh this was awful. I could tell the author had ever even been to Lancaster, just looked a bunch of stuff up on Google. So disappointing!

The Hidden Power of F*cking Up for "book by a YouTube video creator". I love the Try Guys, and this book by them was fantastic! Such a fun and inspiring read!!

Currently Reading

The X-Files: Goblins for "book that starts with "X"". I know zero about the X Files. So......this'll be interesting. XD

QotW

I do, actually. I was homeschooled for half of elementary school. My mom had her teaching degree and taught me to read in our little classroom by having me sound out letters and put them together. I was so excited. I'd always wanted to learn to read! As soon as I had the letters figured out, I immediately ran and grabbed one of my mom's books and tried to sound out all the words. I had to ask her what every other word was, lol. But I was thrilled to finally be making sense of the written word!

I missed last week because of my move. I also haven't gotten any reading done because of said move. I'm still trying to get things organized, but work has been so overwhelming that I can't handle a ton when I get home.

Alas.

Currently Reading:
Proof by Dick Francis - of all the books for me to stop in the middle of! I need to know what's going on and who the bad guy is!

How to Listen to and Understand Great Music - I started listening to this off and on at work (although it's hard to focus on since I'm also trying to work, so I do miss out on some of the information). It's really fun so far -- I love music but actually understanding it has always confused me. I get physical art, like writing and painting, and even acting, but the idea of creating imagery with notes or have a chord progression that means something breaks my brain a little. It's just so much more abstract! This course is definitely helping, though. And Robert Greenberg is great fun as a teacher!

QOTW:
I have zero recollection of learning to read. I know my dad read James Herriot to me, and my mom always read to us on car trips (that's how I initially "read" The Lord of the Rings), but my memory of those things is fuzzy. I know I was a good reader -- my first grade teacher took me to the junior high library once to let me check out some more advanced books.

I also listened to a ton of audiobooks growing up because they helped me sleep (The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog was THE BEST). I'd get them memorized, so it was like white noise in a way.

I also ended up getting to narrate a play we did in fifth grade because I kept correcting the teacher's pronunciation...so yeah, I was *that* kid. But it sounds like I'm in good company in this group! XD

Hello! My husband and I went camping this weekend for our one year anniversary. We had to remember how to put together the tent (did a test run in the garage before leaving) and find the "do this next time you go camping!" list we made last time. We picked a state park not on a lake, so it was less crowded, and went Saturday night, as that was the only night of the weekend where it didn't storm. We also picked a campsite in the part of the state not under burning restrictions, allowing us to have a fire. It was a lot of fun, and all the muscle pain from sleeping in the tent and hiking has mostly gone away. Best part, we couldn't get a phone signal for the majority of the trip, and husband and I spent a large portion of the time reading by the campfire.

Finished This Week:
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I really enjoyed this, until I read the reviews saying the author was basing it off the residential schools in Canada. Now I feel very conflicted.

The Winter Long / A Red-Rose Chain / Chimes at Midnight / Full of Briars by Seanan McGuire. The October Daye reread continues! I skipped from book 4 (read last week) to book 8, continued on to 9, went back to 7 and then 7.1. All rereads, not for prompt, quite enjoying them all.

Wally Funk’s Race for Space: The Extraordinary Story of a Female Aviation Pioneer by Sue Nelson. I picked this up from the library after Wally was one of the passengers in Jeff Bezos's spaceship last month, and finally read it. It's less a biography of Wally and more a travel adventure with Wally and the author as they go interview people for radio programs about space (the author worked for the BBC). I learned Wally had bought her ticket to space from Richard Branson's company, and was very frustrated with their pace and how they still weren't flying yet (and this was 2017!). I also learned Wally doesn't like one of the Mercury 13 books, and while the author doesn't specify which one Wally dislikes, I'm guessing it's the one I read based on the author's twitter recommendations around the time of the launch. Using for PS #36, fewer than 1000 reviews (it has 35).

Feedback by Mira Grant. The fourth book in the Newsflesh series, set concurrently with Feed but with a different group of bloggers, following the Democratic candidate. While it claims to be an alternate starting point to the series, it depends too much on Feed (and really the whole trilogy) for anyone not already familiar with the world to get the most out of it. Also, I don't see the point of the bit at the end with Clive. Not for PS Prompt, but I did realize it counted for ATY #39, About an Immigrant, as the main character is from Ireland, moves to the US and becomes a naturalized citizen. Her Irish-ness is actually a plot point.

PS: 37/50 RH: 13/24 RW: 17/28 ATY: 47/52 GR: 121/150

Currently Reading:
Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire. Next in the Toby series reread (book 10).

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor. No progress, but not giving up.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Library book due back in 11 days with 250+ people waiting, but there are plenty of physical copies available. I may just go pick one of those up and return the ebook...

QOTW: Do you remember learning to read?
Not really? I remember learning letters in kindergarten, and I remember my dad and grandparents reading to me, but there's no memory of learning to read.

How is it Thursday already? It doesn’t feel like I’ve read much the past week, and yet I finished two books, am halfway into a thicker one, and also read several short stories.

PopSugar: 37/50 (I miscounted last week)
Goodreads: 85/100

Finished:
* Orlando by Virginia Woolf (Read for a classics group read. Honestly did not like it.)
* The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle


Currently reading:
* A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (for dark academia)
* The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (audiobook)


QOTW:
I don’t remember learning how to read, but I remember being in the advanced reading group in first grade. I read every book in the meager classroom library at least twice and wished for more choices. And then we were introduced to Weekly Reader flyers, and I remember three books I was allowed to get: My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes, Why Can't I Fly?, and Sophie And Gussie. The last was especially a favorite and read so often it literally fell apart. In second grade there was a contest for who could read the most books, and I tied with another girl in class. We were each rewarded with a copy of The Secret Garden, which I still have.

Ashley Marie wrote: "Happy Thursday!

I had a good time with my sister and her friends last weekend, and predictably ended up with poison ivy thanks to stepping outdoors. It's not bad at all, so I shan't complain too ..."


Itchy itchy!!! And this reminds me: there are some poison ivy starts I noticed while mowing on Sunday that I need to get out there and take care of. I forgot!

I've lived in this house for over 25 years now, and never before have I had poison ivy in my yard. But I do now!! It started last year, little seedlings pop up under my maple tree. Birds are not affected by it and they like to eat the berries. I found the culprit: two LARGE and LUSH and HEALTHY clumps of it are growing on someone's back fence across the street from me. They either don't know what they have or they have not seen it.

A few years ago I read an article predicting that poison ivy would become more common and more potent as global warming increased. And here we are! Poison ivy keeps popping up in my yard, where it never poppped up before!

Nadine wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "Happy Thursday!

I had a good time with my sister and her friends last weekend, and predictably ended up with poison ivy thanks to stepping outdoors. It's not bad at all, so I..."

Interesting! It never bothered me until 5ish years ago, and now I'm so susceptible to it that, as I said, I can basically walk out on the front porch and end up with it. I always enjoyed doing yard work when I was a kid, and my husband insists on mowing etc and tells me to sit on the porch and read a book... so I guess I can't complain? Lol but I do miss helping get things done. I also think the cats might brush against it and bring it inside to me, because I'm always cuddling them.

Guys, I think I'm going to give up on my longest TBR read. I've chosen Proust and I'm about 64% of the way through. But I'm just not getting much out of it. I read an article in the Atlantic about how the writer was reading Proust during the pandemic and it was radically changing how he appreciated details in his life. I am experiencing nothing like that. The sentence structure is amazing, but the content is all about rich people one-upping each other's status at parties and how they wish their servants like them better! I read the first Proust sixteen years ago and gave it four stars. I don't know if the second volume is really all that worse or if it's just the wrong time in my life to appreciate it, but either way, it feels like DNFing is the right step for me!

Finished: None

Started: None

Qotw: My mom taught me to read when I was three. She used flashcards. My clearest memory of learning how to read was when I read "grandfather clock." My parents were so impressed and I remember wondering why because I'm pretty sure she had taught me "grand" and "father" and "clock." I just strung them together. I also remember in kindergarten, they would only let us go to the picture book section of the school library. I got permission to access the rest of the library because I had read all the picture books. I actually don't remember reading picture books very much though. I have trouble paying attention to pictures unless the book has no words. As a teacher, I've had to get extra training to teach how to read because it comes so naturally to me, it's harder for me to relate to a struggling student. And I also think if you learn a bit later in life, you gain the ability to get more from pictures which can be a strength (for all you graphic novel readers especially.) And visualizing is not one of my metacognitive strategies, maybe because I didn't listen to Read-Alouds (or audiobooks) very much.

Enjoyed a boring week! My bike ride was successful and I can do my daily walks again. So I am a happy and content person this week.

30/40
Finished
De meeste mensen deugen (in English: Humankind: A Hopeful History) by Rutger Bregman ⭐⭐⭐
Prompt: #37: a book your best friend would like

I like the message of the book. It’s so consistent with everything I read in the Bible and learn in church. Bregman was raised in a christian family. I couldn’t help but thinking that he is in some way rationalising the learnings of his former christian faith into scientific proof. Anyways, if you need some positivity about mankind, this book is the medicine you need!

Currently reading
The Romanovs: 1613-1918

QOTW
So much fun to read all your memories of the magic of learning to read!! As lots of you already mentioned, my mom also read books to me every day. She has told me that I tried to read since I was 4, but that my kindergarten teacher didn’t allow my mom to teach me. But I knew the alfabet before I went to elementary school and I could write my name and stuff like that. I don’t remember the lessons at school, but I do remember being at school, the exercise books and the blackboard with the words we were learning: 'boom, roos, vis' (in English: tree, rose, fish). I couldn’t wait until I could read everything, that I remember most of all!

Sarah wrote: "... This week I finished The Mysterious Island. ..."


My favorite Verne! (actually, it might be the only thing I've read by him ...) I read this when I was young, and I was entranced, and I thought that meant I liked stories about being stranded on a deserted island, but really I think it just meant this was a really good story. I shoudl re-read it!

Sarah wrote: “This week I finished The Mysterious Island. I know i haven't read it before but I kept getting some serious deja vu over some sections. I feel like as a child I must have read an abridged edition or an excerpt because the memory of them building the house in the cave is so vivid in my head.”

We read the book in 7th grade, then watched the movie adaptation, neither of which I remember very well. Is it possible you saw the movie when you were younger? It’s one of many books I would like to reread, but definitely won’t get to it any time soon. Too many others at top of Mount TBR to finish before the end of the year. 😐

Doni wrote: "Guys, I think I'm going to give up on my longest TBR read. I've chosen Proust and I'm about 64% of the way through. But I'm just not getting much out of it. I read an article in the Atlantic about ..."

Doni, I DNF'd my Longest Read as well! Shōgun was too much of a slog for me.

It's been a long time since my last check-in, but August has been incredibly busy, start to finish next week. I flew back to Switzerland, then, since family could visit, my sister and I went to Greece for a week. Unfortunately, the oncoming wildfires and high temps (110+/45+) made it difficult to be outdoors most of the time, but we still went up to the Acropolis and toured historical sights in Athens.

Then, school started again, so that's been nonstop madness. We hiked yesterday over a local mountain range then today did a scavenger hunt in Zurich. I'm tired and just relying on my books to put me to sleep at night.

Read (from last check-in):
The Wife Upstairs - an okay read, not too shocking at the conclusion. A modern update of Jane Eyre.

Hour of the Witch - I found this to be a really good historical fiction read of the early American colonies, religion, women's rights (and extreme lack thereof), and family. It was really difficult to know how the book would end ... bit of a see-saw!

The Woman with the Blue Star - I wanted to like this book more than I did. Whilst it was based on a historical event and real people, the 'romance' seemed too kitschy most of the time and didn't contribute to the story. Also seemed written more at a YA level than adult.

The Paper Palace - I liked it, but not a 100% favorite. Interesting weaving of family history and tragedy all culminating in one act at the family's summer house that brings readers back and forth in time.

One to Watch - for prompt #19 about body positivity. Again, an okay read, but nothing that blew me out of the water.

Fall of Giants - for prompt #41 - longest book on my TBR at 944 pages! I'm not all done with it yet [on page 898], but I plan on finishing it tonight. Breezed through it in less than a week ... faster than some much shorter books! I'm a history nerd, and combined with a humanizing narrative of characters I actually care about, I'm sold. I plan to read the other 2 books in the series sometime soon before I forget all about them!

At this point I only have 2 more PopSugar Challenge books to read - the one with an oxymoron in the title and one that was on my DNF list. I have both of those, but not sure I'm excited about either.

QotW
I vaguely remembering learning how to read - my earliest memory is 1st grade, a story about a duck. I was a big reader from a young age and was devouring most books I remember now by grade 5 ... A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver, Misty of Chincoteague and other Marguerite Henry books, King of the Wind ... any book about horses was a winner. My first foray into the classics was when I tried to read Emma by Jane Austen in grade 6, but my concrete mind [having learnt American English] couldn't quite figure out why words were spelt wrong with "u" in them ... took me until high school to tackle Jane Austen again!

I am so grateful to have discovered this new D.O. He is an avid reader and while examining me, started a conversation about Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Saga since he read it many years ago. That was just so much fun! Then we got into a brief discussion of fantasy and science fiction and some authors… Then we had to finally discuss medical stuff! My good news is that my blood work all looked good with just one area of kinda sorta a little bit of concern and that should be easily remedied with a bit of nutritional adjustment. (As I sit here eating some chocolate candy! LOL¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) And after the second adjustment last Thursday morning, as I was watching for traffic in preparation to pull out of his parking lot, I inadvertently ended up turning my neck much further than I have been able to do in many years…it almost scared me! It was definitely surprising! I couldn’t believe it! So I took a few minutes to text him about this revelation! Immediately following the manipulation he stated he had gotten into “some older stuff” and that I might experience some emotional release as well as physical. I have known people who experienced quite dramatic emotional release following massage therapy…but that has never happened to me… (I don’t know whether that’s good or bad! LOL) 😁 I'll accept it as being good.

And I have had to deal with ‘broken things’ yet once again this past week. My poor car. Two front hubs and almost $1,000 later… *sigh* I keep telling myself it could always be worse. I’m not in a different country and displaced from my home or under attack or anything else…I’m just poor here in the US! 😊

Admin Stuff:
Brandy B is leading August’s discussion of Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas! I basically read this in one day and enjoyed it way more than I thought I might.

And don’t forget to post the book(s) you have read to fulfill prompt #5 A dark academia book here!

I will open the two September threads next Monday or Tuesday in preparation for September 1 on Wednesday! Yikes!! 😊 I'm reminded that I still need to get a copy of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue for this discussion! I hope I enjoy this one as much as I think I will!

WE STILL NEED DISCUSSION LEADERS FOR THESE TWO MONTHLY GROUP READS:
October: #13 A locked-room mystery
(“Spooktober”/Halloween)
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Are you the "fascinating facilitator" needed to lead discussion of this book?
December: #1 A book published in 2021
(Because it’s the end of the year!)
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
There is need of a "gifted guide" to lead this discussion!
Message either Nadine or myself to volunteer!

Question of the Week:
In honor of back-to-school season:
Do you remember learning to read?
I’ve been dreading it if one of us used this question, Nadine! I cannot remember learning to read at all. Nada. Zilch. Nothing in the memory banks. I don’t even know when I could read. I just remember being enthralled with books once I could read. I may have mentioned before that one thing my mother did do that I appreciated then and now--we made weekly trips to the library every Saturday. One of my favorite things ever! Since I am old, we were only expected to learn the alphabet and numbers in kindergarten. There wasn’t near the amount of prior knowledge expected as there is now when you enter ‘school’ at age 5/6. It blew me away when I realized what my own children were expected to know as they entered kindergarten.

I was so grateful to have been home with them and working with them all along on the alphabet, numbers, fractions (Yes, you can teach/learn that concept prior to starting ‘school’! Fairly easy if you allow them to help cook and use a recipe.), time, and actually reading what are now called sight words and more. I used to allow my three sons to take turns at trying to read a book any time we were reading together. If they got frustrated they were allowed to quit and try later, or not, as they chose. Plus, they could self-select the book. It worked. My oldest son was reading at 3rd/4th-grade level in first grade. (I have a good story about that when we interacted with a local librarian! LOL) Typically, reading levels even out among classmates by 4th grade or so. Although he isn’t much of a reader as an adult, he did retain that advantage throughout high school, when he immersed himself in Homer and Shakespeare! Of all things! Cracked me up. I called him a nerd and he would just grin in reply!

My middle son delighted in memorizing books and then following along and chastising me any time I missed a word or mispronounced one, etc.! When he was about 18 months old he would run through the house yelling, “Doctor Doo, Mommy! Doctor Doo!” A simplified version of Dr. Doolittle was his favorite book at that time. He was so adorable when doing that!

My youngest son was the least interested in reading. By the time he was 4 we had an older Nintendo their cousins had gifted them, so he loved playing video games while the older two were in school.

No such recollections of my own reading skills emerging, however! All I can remember is immersing myself in books! Especially since I was an “only child” raised in the country on a farm!

Popsugar: 41/50
ATY: 48/52
RHC: 14/24
Reading Women: 11/28
No new ones this week, but there should be quite a few more completed in September! At least that is the plan!

FINISHED:
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was rather intense, as I would expect. This is my second Louise Erdrich and I enjoyed it, though perhaps not quite as much as The Round House. I found the writing style to be a bit disruptive in several spots, but by book’s end it all gelled together nicely. Unbelievable how the U.S./white men have abused, murdered, and further oppressed Native Americans. Steal your land and then do their best to annihilate you. There should be retribution, IMO!
POPSUGAR: #16, #18-Protecting Native American rights!, #21-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Native American, Politics, Prejudice/Discrimination, Pulitzer Prize Winner, #27, #33, #34-The continued persecution of Native Americans
ATY: #2, #3-…warm woolen mittens…Millie’s orange mittens!, #8-North Dakota, #9-Winter, #10-Bernadette, #18-Nothing can ever truly makeup for the damage done to Native Americans, but we should try!, #23-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Native American, Politics, Prejudice/Discrimination, Pulitzer Prize Winner, #27-The Lovers, Justice, Death, Temperance, Judgement, The World, #28, #31, #34, #46-2020 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction, #49, #51, #52-In the end they defeated the proposed termination law.
RHC: #5, #19
Reading Women: #18, #19

Fat Like The Sun by Anna Świrszczyńska, translated by Grazyna Baran & Margaret Marshment ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I am not a huge poetry fan but this book fulfilled several reading challenge prompts and I was curious. It is translated from Polish and the author is supposedly one of the first Polish authors to write as a feminist. Some of these were quite intense. I mostly enjoyed the poems regarding female roles typically being self-sacrificial, especially in more traditional cultures, domestic abuse of females, and the negative and positive aspects of ‘loving’ relationships.
POPSUGAR: #18-Women’s rights!, #21-Feminism, Poetry, Social Justice, #30-Poland, #34-Domestic Violence, Women’s Rights, #36-7 reviews on Goodreads, #44
ATY: #1-Anna was one of the first to write of feminism in Poland, #8-Poland, #18-Although one of the first authors to write of feminism in Poland, hopefully that was just the beginning of many more following suit!, #23-Feminism, Poetry, Social Justice, #26, #27-The Lovers, Justice, The World, #31, #33
RHC: #1, #13
Reading Women: #2

Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ proved to be quite interesting. While I am generally repulsed by all the NYC ‘high society’ BS of the time, Wharton did an excellent job of depicting it and threw in a few surprises in the last 20 pages or so. Newland’s wife May may NOT be as sweet and innocent as she first appears! LOL For some reason, I was immediately motivated to finish this one after the above two! Perhaps the best way to describe my reading sequence is ‘totally unpredictable’! And, I know many of you never expected me to ever finish this one, but I did!! 😁
POPSUGAR: #21-Classical Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Pulitzer Prize Winner, Romance, #27, #30-New York City, NY, #33, #46
ATY: #1-In the beginning it appears May is all innocence and naïve, #3-May’s wedding dress was white with a blue sash, #6, #8-New York City, NY, #20-One can never know what the future may have been given a different decision made in the past, #23-Classical Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Pulitzer Prize Winner, Romance, #27-Justice, Judgement, The World, #31, #34, #40

CONTINUING:
Xenocide (Ender’s Saga #3) by Orson Scott Card is just as fascinating as all the others in this series have been for me!
Jack & Jill (Alex Cross #3) by James Patterson. Though this did begin with a murder right off the bat, I'm very hopeful this will not be as grisly as the first two!
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. I can tell I will keep this one by my bedside to read a bit every once in a while once I've completed it the first time through. An excellent resource, IMO!
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

PLANNED:
For August Buddy Reads:
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
The Alchemistby Paulo Coelho
September Buddy Reads:
Children of the Mind (Ender’s Saga #4) by Orson Scott Card

****The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman
And…
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

Nadine wrote: "This past Monday lasted a whole week, but Tuesday and Wednesday are a blur and now I can't believe it's Thursday already. I have had back-to-back meetings all week starting at 7am and it's turning into 12 hour days and wearing me down. I don't mind meetings, but I need some downtime to just breathe, and I need time to do all the things we talk about in the meetings. I feel like I'm barely treading water right now."
Ugh. That sounds like no fun at all, Nadine! Here's hoping you get a chance to come up for air soon!

"We are still adjusting to Lily being away at college - I think I'm cooking too much food for dinner, the leftovers are starting to pile up!"
That's when you can have a "heat up leftovers night"! And you don't have to cook! YAY! I love the name Lily! I trust she is doing well! Sending you both positive "adjustment" energy!

"You Don’t Have to Go to Mars for Love poems by Yona Harvey- I really enjoyed these poems!! She plays with language and rhythm and jumps between modern slang and historical and current events."
What a great title! And you enjoyed the poems! YAY!! 👍

"Question of the Week
In honor of back-to-school season:
Do you remember learning to read?

[forgive my mom brag now] When my younger daughter was in preschool, they put on a "school play" and one role was the "narrator" who stood at a podium and read the descriptions. Afterward, another dad came up to me so impressed by how well she could read and asking me how I had taught her, did we use a special tutor or method? And I could only shrug and say "I just read to her."
Nothing to forgive! What a fun story!! That had to make you feel good as a parent!

Lynn wrote: "I am so grateful to have discovered this new D.O. He is an avid reader and while examining me, started a conversation about Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Saga since he read it many years ago. That was..."

Glad you enjoyed Age of Innocence, Lynn! I had similar feelings and I'm looking forward to rereading it eventually :)

Super busy today, so just a quick update!

We dropped off our daughter at Penn - a total of 21 hours on the road in one long weekend! She's doing OK despite discovering on the road that she had bronchitis. (The CAMC Urgent Care Center in Charleston WV is very nice, thank goodness!)

Nadine wrote: "We are still adjusting to Lily being away at college - I think I'm cooking too much food for dinner, the leftovers are starting to pile up!"

❤ We're doing surprisingly well - I was worried about her at first, but once we talked on the phone it put my mind at ease. As for food, she's by far the pickiest eater so we're enjoying a little more range in what's for dinner.

In our family, road trips are for audiobooks, and we basically listened to all of Artemis on our trip. Rosario Dawson is WONDERFUL as a narrator, and the story was great.

QOTW:
I do recall "reading" (i.e., reciting from memory) my first book: The Invention of Paper!

Ashley Marie wrote: "I had a good time with my sister and her friends last weekend, and predictably ended up with poison ivy thanks to stepping outdoors. It's not bad at all, so I shan't complain too much ;)"
Oh, my! I have a small patch of poison ivy on my arm, too! From wedding outside... 🙁 Though it has not gotten any worse, for which I am grateful. I think the pool chemicals help a lot. Seriously! After two hours working out in the heated therapy pool it is amazing how much better it is! Those chemicals kill alot of things! (Hopefully not me! LOL)

"And I finished a pair of books this week!

4 stars each to
And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis - A solid telling, but I'm feeling myself pulled away from recent-historical fiction after this one.
Fugitive Telemetry - Hilarious, as per usual. Locked-room mystery"
I'm really anxious to get the third book in the Murderbot series to continue it.

"Currently:
The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog - started this last night and ahhhhh wolfies!! <33"
Oooohhhh! This sounds marvelous!

"The Hangman's Daughter - I actually started this a few weeks ago and made it through the prologue and (I think?) chapter one. Hoping to carve out more time for it once I rip through Dream Country."
I don't know. This sounds fascinating, but also a bit creepy?

"The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna - audio! CW Gortner's historical fiction always moves quickly. I just started this morning and I'm enjoying myself so far."
This is on my TBR.

"^^ Hoping to get through at least two of these by the end of the month, next week. September is busy between a pair of weddings (both of which I'm in), rehearsals for my next show, and a pair of overnighters for mental health reasons. I'll be here in October, no worries :D"
Wow. Your September sounds busy, but fun!

"QOTW: Do you remember learning to read?
I don't really, aside from being told innumerable times to "sound it out", but we have plenty of pictures of reading my Peter Rabbit pop-up book with my parents when I was about 3, and reading various books with my grandparents. I vividly remember first grade (age 6) and rolling my eyes SO HARD because classmates would routinely mix up "stared" and "started" when we did circle time and each read a single sentence of a story."
That is so funny! I can just see a child doing that! LOL

Lynn wrote: "Ashley Marie wrote: "I had a good time with my sister and her friends last weekend, and predictably ended up with poison ivy thanks to stepping outdoors. It's not bad at all, so I shan't complain t..."

I'll keep you posted on Hangman's Daughter, Lynn!

yoyi wrote: "I had nothing that interesting to share since it's been raining a lot and I just can't go out or I'll end up sick, but I can for sure hope you are doing great☆"
That is so very kind! And...I'm pretty sure what we share does not need to be "interesting," else I may never share anything!! Always feel free to pop by and participate!

"QOTW:
I remember learning chunks (like "Mi mamá me mima", I'm a native Spanish speaker) when I was at school, I was 6 in 1st year and it was reaaaally boring! I have an elder sister and I spent almost all the time next to her even when she was studying so it was quite easy for me.

However I do remember learning to read in English. I was in 11th year and I started by reading some hollywood gossip news. I had to search for almost every single word, but then it became easier. I think I mastered my skills during my freshmen year of the English Teaching Program as I read a lot and had the opportunity to share and discuss my ideas and reflections on the readings for the very first time."
It is so interesting that you said this. I was just reading a book with a person describing how they learned a second language by doing this same thing, just starting out translating word by word and my thought was, "I'm not sure it would be possible to do it that way..." But you have proven that it is! I would say you did very well!!

I'm all socialised out this week. Not that it takes much these days. Had a work barbeque today which was nice to see everyone in person after so long. Not since the start of the pandemic for lost of them. Got to hang out with my boss's adorable Sheltie, who seemed put out that no one was sneaking him BBQ food.

Finished:
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura for ATY (Warwick Prize). Lovely book about bullied kids finding a safe place, and an ending I did not expect. Was a bit slow to get going but turned out to be something special by the end.

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg for locked room mystery. This is the third book I've read this year where the locked room mystery has only been a small part of the main mystery, but this one at least had a murder in the "lock room" so I'm just gonna go with it. Was OK, I liked the whole mysterious underground detective agency thing but the characters weren't very fleshed out.

QOTW:
I only remember going to school and being given books to read that be beneath me and so boring! I guess they quickly worked out I'd been reading at home and gave me more advanced books, but I don't remember how I got to that point.

Ready for this week to be over - it's been a long one!

I finished these:

You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience I'm glad this exists! 4.5 stars

Stolen: A Memoir Oof, this was a really hard story to take in. Very sad and scary. 3.5 stars

The God of Small Things Some strong elements, some confusion... 3.5 stars

Something New Under the Sun Pretty interesting story, sadly relevant! 4 stars

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch A bit dry and sometimes it lost my attention, but I think the author accomplished her intention. 3.5 stars

Damnation Spring Also relevant in the way Something New (above) was. Fairly heavy stuff. 4 stars

Currently listening to Sparks Like Stars and finishing up Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds in print.

QOTW: I have lots of random memories of reading/books from when I was a kid, but I don't think I remember that exact "aha!" moment when the letters formed words I could understand. My parents say I spent hours sitting in front of my bookshelf reading my books all the time, so no surprise I'm still obsessed as an adult. Some books that stand out in my mind from different ages growing up: Goosebumps, Boxcar Children, Sweet Valley books, Frog and Toad Are Friends, Maniac Magee, The Jolly Mon: Book and Musical CD, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Love You Forever (this one made my mom cry every time), and Where's Waldo books... did those have any words?

Very Important Cat Update: Awww one of the housemate's other cats just came in to visit me! My BFF cat that passed away was not eager to share me, so I've been cat visitless for a while. Progress!


Finished:
Giraffe Problems and Penguin Problems - Picture books

Master of Formalities - Sci fi with a lot of protocol.

Winterhouse - Delightful! I'm now waiting for my hold of the second book to come in. I do love me some puzzle books.

Mr. Lemoncello and the Titanium Ticket - More puzzles! Thanks, middle grade. This one is a love letter to board games. Listening to narrators describing a rebus is always amusing.

A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing But Using the Bathroom as an Escape - I actually really enjoyed this tiny thing. Nobody over comes here, and I do not have a place to put a book in my bathroom, but I still want a physical copy. It seems I'm missing some drawings, but I did get to enjoy a nice soundscape instead. Soothing, amusing and encouraging.


Currently Reading:
Maiden Voyages: Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them - One of my favorite places in Earth is the Queen Mary, so of course I am loving this so far!

Defekt - I actually read a bit more recently! I'm still enjoying it. I wish I could get over this not reading print thing.


QOTW:
I do, a bit, although I don't remember who or how. I know I wasn't a strong reader when I started kindergarten, because I remember the teacher writing things on the board for us to copy. I don't remember ever being read to, but it must have happened. I do not remember having many books, because I do remember reading the ones I had over and over and OVER again. The thing I remember most is as soon as I could read by myself, I made every relative I could get my hands on sit down so I could read my coloring books to them. I loved nothing more than interrupting grandpa doing *whatever* so I could read to him about a dog with a ball I hadn't even colored in yet. Then I remember Dick and Jane. Run, Spot! Run!

Greetings from hot and humid NYC! We got quite a bit of rain over a couple of days from Henri, but nothing particularly overwhelming. However, since it's been in the 90s, although drops to mid-70s at night which is not typical of August - it usually stays in mid-80s at night. All this means that as usual I am longing for cold weather. I really despise summer weather.

Business first! I am leading the The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue discussion starting Sept. 1 - next Wednesday!
I hope to make it fun and engaging, and I really hope many join. It's a wondeful book which I read and discussed with my Feminerdy Book Club in February. I also have a treat for all you reading it: A spotify playlist to listen to while reading! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7mu...
Full disclosure - I did not create this, it was posted by someone in January I believe who was reading it then, possibly in this group even, with permission to all to enjoy it.

One more note: If you are listening only to the audio for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, I urge you to at least find a print or ebook copy to look at the artwork at the beginning of each section and read the information. Initially you think it's just decoration but as anyone who has read the book will tell you - they are very very important.

Now to reporting!

I have had very little reading time, and by the weekend was mentally drained. I did what I always do at times like that - put aside whatever I'm reading of a more serious nature and disappear into some fluff. First up was a cozy mystery then it was special forces K-9 romantic suspense thrillers - studly men and hunky dogs!

Finished:

To Bead or Not to Bead - cozy - last of a series set in Seattle world of hand made glass beads. Not bad -- but not great either. The best in the series are the first and second.
Survival Instinct, Protective Instinct, and Defender's Instinct: Cerberus Tactical K9 - all by Fiona Quinn and all got 4 stars and 4 woofs! great characters, lots of action, woman front and center and not model thin but curvy, and romance is there but secondary. Some sex but again secondary not particularly graphic. The dogs are wonderful. Absolutely loved these.
Danger Signs - by Fiona Quinn again - another series within the same world and featuring a Delta ops with a K-9 though the dog Rory is not as front and center. This is more romance than action, Still good.

Currently reading:
Danger Zone by Fiona Quinn - still escaping 😁
A Suitable Boy

QOTW: Hmmmm. well, i have faint mists of reading a picture book to someone - probably my mother. Our parents read to us from the time we were born, holding the book open to have us follow along and gradually learn to read, first picture books, then ones with more words. I have seen pictures of my brother (10 years older) reading to me as well. In act there are lots of pictures of dad or mom or my brother reading to me, and one priceless photo of me dressed in a pretty red dress (i have dark hair/eyes - mom dressed me in red a lot) sitting on the edge of the sofa with my dad lying asleep (or so I thought), wearing a silly kangaroo hat I had put on him and me reading a big picture book to him. I think I was 3 or 4. Looking at the picture you know he's not asleep because he's smiling but I absolutely remember believing he was.

What I really remember is reading to my 2 younger sisters, one of whom was 11 years younger. Like my brother read to me, I read to her. I know I helped her learn to read and she remembers it and what the first picture book was that she could read --- she still has it.

I know from having younger sisters, that Mom would have us show off our reading skills to guests. We loved it!

Happy Thursday! With college starting up in person again, my apartment building is full for the first time in over a year. All the students went home last March, and I think there was only about 6 of us left in the whole building. I'm having to readjust to there being noise again, but it's nice not to have the place so empty. Feels safer!

Finished:
The Blind Owl- I did not love this. I know it's considered a classic, so maybe I just missed the point? Maybe this is one where I really needed to read it in a class and a professor go over it. But it's been on my shelves for years, so at least I finally read it!

Currently Reading:
Upstream: Selected Essays- reading a few essays a day. Still enjoying it

Letters from Iceland- finally picked this one up again, so I'll include it. Maybe I'll actually finish it soon?? Probably not, but maybe?

QotW:
I don't really remember, but my mom was a kindergarten teacher, so I'm sure she got us started super early. I do remember the first time I could get a book out of the library with my own card, and how excited I was. It was some book about apples.

Well...that was exciting...when I tried to post about 15 minutes ago, I got ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! and then "this page is unavailable." I was able to save what I'd typed out though, so let's see if attempt #2 works. If not, the site is clearly trying to tell me to post AFTER I finish the book I may finish tonight so I actually have something to report! :)

I haven't finished anything again this week. But, I'm very close to being done with two of my books in progress, so I should finally have some movement to report for next week's check-in. Not gonna lie. I thought about delaying my check-in since I'll likely finish a book tonight...but here I am :) This may be the longest stretch I've had without any challenge completions in all the years I've been doing reading challenges! I remain at 19/40 and 2/10, and 39/100 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Finished:
*nada

Currently Reading:
* Shell Game by Sara Paretsky, which I did *not* finish last weekend as I thought I would...but I am very close to the end (about 70 pages left);
* Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, which is one of my book clubs' picks for this month. It'll definitely work for one of my open prompts (hooray!) AND I will finish it shortly because 1)book club is Saturday and 2)the ebook is due back to the library on Saturday. I just have two chapters left, so I should finish it tonight or tomorrow. Definitely no later than Saturday morning ;-); and,
* Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan, which is my other book club's pick for this month. Technically, we're discussing it the first weekend in September, but it's the August pick :)

QotW:
In honor of back-to-school season:
Do you remember learning to read? I don't remember the process of learning to read, but I do remember the first book I read on my own. I was 2 and 1/2 and pulled Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman off a little bookshelf in our family room (the designated kid book bookshelf), opening up to the page with all the dogs in bed during the day, and reading the words on the page aloud. I remember being aware of the fact I was reading and how exciting it felt. Now, it's quite possible that the book had been read aloud to me so many times that I'd just memorized it but that's my earliest reading memory.

Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone. I haven't checked in for a while but I've been lurking. Work has been insanely busy. This time last year, about 75% of our staff were made redundant and now we're back open, we're really struggling to hire people. It's been stressful but after my shift today I'm on annual leave for two weeks so I'm going to erase it all from my brain and hope the situation will have improved on my return."
Good to know you have been lurking! 😊 Oh, I certainly hope the staffing situation at work does improve greatly! That must be very frustrating!

"This week I finished The Mysterious Island. I know i haven't read it before but I kept getting some serious deja vu over some sections. I feel like as a child I must have read an abridged edition or an excerpt because the memory of them building the house in the cave is so vivid in my head. Last year I read The Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe a few years earlier. I much preferred this over both of them. Less preachy and more actual adventure."
Yeah, I would definitely prefer "less preachy"! It is so interesting about your deja vu moments with this one!

"Currently reading: In the Full Light of the Sun So far, I really dislike every character but I think that is intentional...maybe?"
This looks so good!

"QOTW: I don't remember learning to read but my mum likes to tell this story about our neighbour bragging about her kid's reading and not believing my mum when she said I'd read the same book (I was about 2 years younger than her son), so my mum got me to read one of my books to her. She still didn't believe it and said my mum had taught me the book by heart, so my mum pointed to individual words and got me to read them.

About a decade later the same woman was caught in a lie bragging that her daughter was top of the classes I was actually top in so I guess she didn't change."
That is hysterical! 😂

Ashley Marie wrote: "Doni wrote: "Guys, I think I'm going to give up on my longest TBR read. I've chosen Proust and I'm about 64% of the way through. But I'm just not getting much out of it. I read an article in the At..."

Proust needs the right mindset and time.

Is it really Thursday again already??? This week flew by! After weeks of being in a bit of a reading slump I'm back enjoying my books again.

Challenge Status
Popsugar: 42/50
ATY: 46/52
ATY Rejects: 17/25

Books I finished:

King of Scars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I love the world, Nikolai & Zoya are great, but certain sections still dragged a little for me.

Wolf's Bane & Wolf's Curse ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I felt like rereading this duology. I really hope Kelley Armstrong writes more Otherworld stories because I love them so much.

Firefly: The Unification War Vol. 1 & Firefly: The Unification War Vol. 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I've been waiting on the library for book 1 in this series for a while and it final came in. I still love the world just as much as ever even though real world events have put a dark cloud over it.

Me Funny ⭐⭐⭐ - I haven't been ready much non fiction lately so I went and picked up a bunch from the library and this was the one that called to me the most. This was a collection of essays about Native American humour collected together by Drew Hayden Taylor. Some were wonderful and some weren't.

Books I made progress on:

Bite Marks

Rule of Wolves

The Reckless Oath We Made

QOTW

Yep. My parents started me out in French immersion, but when I didn't learn how to read English on the first day, I decided school was useless and stopped trying. When my parents switched me over to regular classes I went from being the kid who did anything but their school work to one of the top kids in class. And I took it upon myself to force myself to learn to read - I went off and tried to read completely on my own without any adults. And I went from picture books to chapter books within a year. Stubbornness for the win! 😁👍

I've spent the week in that dreaded place of having what might be a cold, might be allergies, might be smoky air, but worrying I picked up COVID and wondering if I should get tested. Due to my health issues, I've spent way too much time in that place during the past 1.5 years. I haven't gotten tested because I work at home and rarely go anywhere, so COVID seems unlikely.

I only have 6 more books to finish the challenge. Hoping to get it done by the end of September.

Finished
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - 3 stars; PS #39 [everyone else has read]
This was a 4 star read until the end. I really, really disliked the end. (view spoiler)[You get a chance to come back for a little while (creepy and weird and not well explained) and all you do is have lots of sex with your junior high crush? Without asking Ruth if it was okay to use her body that way? Why not visit the family, tell them where your body is for some closure? (hide spoiler)]

20 Minutes Before The Wedding - 4 stars; not for challenge
Have I mentioned that I love this Kindle series?

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - 4 stars; not for challenge
A re-read as I am using the sequel for the challenge. It's been nearly 30 years since I read this before, and I loved it even more now. Going to watch the movie soon as it has been a long time as well.

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton - 4 stars; PS #21 [genre hybrid]
This dude has some really weird plot ideas, and I love them. Can't wait to see where he goes with his next book.

Goodreads: 74/100
Popsugar: 43/45, 6/10

QOTW: I don't remember learning to read, but I remember vividly the first time I realized that I had the power to read words I hadn't already learned. I was in a grocery store with my mom, and I sounded out Peter Pan on the peanut butter aisle. And I was totally fascinated by being able to do that. And I haven't stopped being fascinated by the written word.

Doni wrote: "Guys, I think I'm going to give up on my longest TBR read. I've chosen Proust and I'm about 64% of the way through. But I'm just not getting much out of it. I read an article in the Atlantic about ..."



I support you in DNFing! 64% is enough to know if it's worthwhile.

I'm on my THIRD "longest" book. Sigh. This one is non-fiction, A History of the World in 100 Objects, I'm trying to read about one object a day, and breaking it up like that helps. (But I'm not managing to pick it up every day, so this is going to take a while ...)

Megan wrote: "Well...that was exciting...when I tried to post about 15 minutes ago, I got ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! and then "this page is unavailable." I was able to save what I'd typed out though, so let's see if a..."


Did you get the big pink box with red letters? That happens to me if I leave the same page open for a long time (ex: if I'm reading all 50 posts on one page before posting a comment). Once I refresh the page, it's fine.

Theresa wrote: "Greetings from hot and humid NYC! We got quite a bit of rain over a couple of days from Henri, but nothing particularly overwhelming. However, since it's been in the 90s, although drops to mid-70s ..."


It has been SO humid!!! One morning I checked my weather app and it said 99% humidity!!!

I can't wait for this humidity to break. And my poor daughter, stuck with no air conditioning in her dorm! I keep reassuring her (as she of course knows herself, since she grew up here) that this will only last a few weeks and then cool weather will come. At least cooler nights!!

Teri wrote: "I've spent the week in that dreaded place of having what might be a cold, might be allergies, might be smoky air, but worrying I picked up COVID and wondering if I should get tested. Due to my heal..."


I had a scratchy throat a few weeks back and was worrying, since I had recently traveled through two states. It went away. I've heard the symptom to pay attention to is losing sense of taste / smell.

Hello from humid Cleveland, Ohio. I've been lurking and just really busy lately.
I finished one book for the challenge this week. The Midnight Library for prompt # 27 A book about do-overs or fresh starts. I gave this book 4 stars. So much about the story resonated with me and I really loved the sci-fi aspects of it as well.

I'm currently reading
The Living Blood
AND
Mind of My Mind

QOTW:
I don't remember learning to read but I remember in Kindergarten learning my ABC's and my teacher reading The Cat in the Hat to the class.

Nadine wrote: "Megan wrote: "Well...that was exciting...when I tried to post about 15 minutes ago, I got ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! and then "this page is unavailable." I was able to save what I'd typed out though, so ..."

GR now severely limits how many comments and reviews you can upload in a certain window of time. All to defeat the spammers and trolls whose activity has stepped up recently. Basically if you are going to be uploading more than 4 comments in a short period, you are going to get that error message. Either leave and come back in 10 minutes or so, or do a computer reboot.

For example, I had 3 books whose reviews I was writing in one session on GR, then copy/pasting each review to a different challenge thread in a group, with a slight edit in each one. I had to stop and reboot to do the final two shares.

Spammers have accellerated activity exponentially. Unfortunately it has led to aggressive changes in GR to combat it.

It's been so busy I've barely had time to read as I'm getting ready for the semester's start this week. the only thing I've finished was not for the challenge (nor was it that good of a read for me but I had won it so I felt obligated to finish)

Reese and Reeves: Overture by Krystine Brown I mean it wasn't horrible but it read like Black Butler fanfic

QOTW No, I don't remember learning to read but I know my parents taught me because I could read going into kindergarten and was already ready Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew by second grade.

Nadine wrote: "Megan wrote: "Well...that was exciting...when I tried to post about 15 minutes ago, I got ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! and then "this page is unavailable." I was able to save what I'd typed out though, so ..."

Yep, I got the pink box of DOOM ( side note: I wondered if it was related to the spammer who had posted in the thread -- I was able to flag it after I logged back in even though I figured others had already noticed/flagged it, too), so I decided to try copying my post/saving outside of GR. Luckily, I was able to do that before the "this page is unavailable" message appeared. But, I really did think GR was trying to tell me to finish a book first and try again later :)