Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

I hope it's a happy Thursday for you.  July is just FLYING by.

In American literary news, Ada Limon was named our new Poet Laureate.  I couldn't be more thrilled for her, she is my favorite living poet.  I pre-ordered her latest book this year, but I actually haven't started it yet.  

Admin stuff
Piranesi is our current group read.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

And we've got openings for discussion leaders for:  September (Cemetery Boys) and October (The Ex Hex).  Don't be shy, group readers!!   It's all very informal!



This week I finished two books, none for this Challenge, so I remain 37/50, and one for my personal challenge, which brings me to 6/11.

Against Silence: Poems by Frank Bidart - I really liked the first page of this, but the rest of the book was just meh.  I'm having such a MEH year with poetry!  I've loved very few of the books I've chosen.  I think next year I will read mostly former Poet Laureates or National Book Award or Pultizer winners. (Which would not have actually helped me here, because Bidart DID win the Pulitzer, but not for this book.)

American War by Omar El Akkad - this was one of my "must reads in 2022" and it was great.  This was one of the most realistic dystopians I've read.




Question of the Week
What have been your best and worst challenge reads so far this year?



My worst read so far is definitely The Fortress, for "not a patriarchy."  Wow that book was stupid.  I am not exactly sorry I read it, because it can be fun to read really bad books sometimes.  But wow it was bad, and I recommend it to no one.  It's a shame, because the category was an interesting one, and I'm sure there are much better books out there.

The BEST book I read that fit a Challenge category this year was The Trees, which I slotted in "scoial horror."  This was easily one of the very best books I read this year!  Buuuut ... I did not intentionally read it for this Challenge.  I was reading it because it was in the Tournament of Books, and I happened to discover it worked perfectly for a category.

Out of books I intentionally read for this Challenge, the best book was When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (for tiger).  What an enjoyable little book that was!  I'm not sure if I would have gotten around to reading it this year if not for this Challenge.

I finished The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World as my book about a nonpatriarchal society. It wasn't what I thought it was, but it was quite interesting.

I'm about halfway through Dark Places as my book about a secret. Enjoying it so far.

QOTW: My best is probably either The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival or Where the Crawdads Sing.

My worst was either The Sound and the Fury or The arch of stars. I will never EVER ever read another Faulkner.

Katy wrote: "... I will never EVER ever read another Faulkner...."


LOL I have never read Faulkner. I feel like I should, because he inspires such strong reactions! (Same goes for Hemingway - somehow I've never read a novel by Hemingway. I think we read a short story by him in high school.)

Happy Thursday, everyone!

This ended up being a very productive week, which is awesome! In addition to helping my dad move into his new house, I took a second look at my home library this week and managed to let go of even more books. I ended up taking another five boxes of books to my local used bookstore!

I have to say that it has felt really good to let go of so many books over the past couple of weeks. Believe it or not, I actually have space on my shelves for all of my books now! It’s also been very therapeutic to give myself permission to let go of books that I’m no longer interested in reading.

The TBR Checklist still looks pretty daunting, but it’s definitely better than it was a few months ago. My current goal is to reach at least 30% completion by the end of the summer.

Goodreads: 332/200
TBR Checklist: 281/1030

Finished Reading:
~K-ON!, Vol. 1
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 08
~After the Funeral
~K-ON! Vol. 2
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 09
~K-ON!, Vol. 3
~K-ON!, Vol. 4
~Change Sings: a Children's Anthem
~The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country
~K-ON! High School
~K-ON! College
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 10
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 11
~Clanlands Almanac: Seasonal Stories from Scotland

Currently Reading:
~First Class Murder
~The Princes in the Tower
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 12

QOTW:
I decided not to participate in the challenge this year, so I don’t have a best or worst challenge read.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Katy wrote: "... I will never EVER ever read another Faulkner...."


LOL I have never read Faulkner. I feel like I should, because he inspires such strong reactions! (Same goes for Hemingway - some..."

I was supposed to read The Old Man and The Sea in HS. I didn't finish it. And I'm never EVER ever reading anything by Hemingway again, either.

Throwing my hat into the ring for never reading Faulkner again. I had to read The Sound and the Fury in high school and hated every minute of it. I may yet give Hemingway another shot, but he's not high on my list.

Hello from the UK heatwave! I tried to read outside for a bit today but it's still too hot, and expected to get hotter at the weekend. I put my black-covered book down for ten minutes and then it was too hot to pick back up!

I'm trying to be a bit more purposeful about picking up books that fit prompts now, otherwise I am only going to end up with all the hard ones at the end of the year. However I am much more in the mood to read frivolous stuff, so we'll see.

Finished:
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen for afterlife. This is a cute enemies to lovers romance in a fantasy setting, between an undertaker and the grumpy marshal who brings her bodies.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chamber for misleading title (it's referring to the crowns of trees). This might be the first of her books I didn't give 5 stars to! I still really liked it but it felt like it had a bit less purpose than the first. Mosscap is still adorable. Dex is still an introvert.

Coward: Why We Get Anxious & What We Can Do About It by Tim Clare for ATY (neuroscience/the mind). In an attempt to cure his own anxiety, Tim seeks out answers to why anxiety happens and tries out some of the varied treatments. Lots of science, does go into animal research which might be disturbing (and actually turned Tim vegetarian) but I found this fascinating and answered some of my own questions.

Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood. I went in with low expectations but this ended up my favourite of these novellas. I think a lot of negatives reviews are form non space nerds, as Hannah does go on about NASA and Mars a lot...and the sex scene "weirdness" totally makes sense when you know how much they love Mars.

Currently reading Aurora's End (mobility aid) and listening to The Trees (Anisfield Wolf).

PS: 29/50 | ATY: 32/52 | GR: 63/100

QOTW:
The worst book was The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole for a romance by a BIPOC author. This was neither romantic or very good sci-fi. I mean if you can make AI good enough to fool humans, why would it have to pretend it had brain damage? It was just a bit odd.

And the best was Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield for a sapphic book, This was a sad, eerie and intimate book while also being about a marine biologist who comes back from the depth changed, and her wife is trying to cope and support her.

Nadine in NY wrote: "I hope it's a happy Thursday for you.  July is just FLYING by.

In American literary news, Ada Limon was named our new Poet Laureate.  I couldn't be more thrilled for her, she is my..."

Happy Thursday! I love Thursday.

I've heard about the crisis in Sri Lanka on our news and also the Heat Wave, and wildfires roasting western Europe. It's just so sad to hear this news. According to the news, I heard this morning "France and the United Kingdom were set to suffer soaring temperatures on Wednesday as a heat wave in western Europe is fueling wildfires across vast stretches of forestland. Since Sunday, temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) have been recorded in Spain and Portugal, where firefighters have battled wildfires."
And also in Sri Lanka, "Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as thousands of people mobbed the prime minister's office after the president flew to the Maldives following months of widespread protests over a crushing economic crisis." I hope they're going to be okay:(

Anyway, I finished reading The Great Gatsby (finally) and I gave it 3 stars.

Continuing
I'm going to continue reading The Sun Down Motel and Where the Crawdads Sing.

And I'm going to read next the The Witch Boy tomorrow.

Planned
This is great news to me since I finished reading the great gatsby earlier. And I'm going to advance reading the books I planned and the books I'm going to continue. Anyway, here is the books I'm going to advance reading:
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
The Inheritance Games
Dumplin'

Question of the Week
What have been your best and worst challenge reads so far this year?
- I think the Great Gatsby book. I didn't like it much.


And, also for the future BOTM! Happy Reading and Happy Thursday to everyone:D

Happy Thursday.

Back in the States, and I had a blast on my vacation. The convention was fun, and I got to wander around Toronto and visit Niagara Falls. Of course, my stay in Canada also coincided with a major Internet outage, so there were some hiccups, but overall it was fun and I'd love to go back someday.

Books read this week:

Half Brother -- a surprisingly emotional read, and a thoughtful look at what makes us human… and what we do to animals even with the best of intentions.

Nightbitch -- this one was WEIRD, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. But it certainly made me think, and I enjoyed the wild ride.

The House Across the Lake -- okay, wasn’t expecting this one to go where it did. Still better than Survive the Night, even if it wasn’t as good as Final Girls.

Just Roll with It -- graphic novel about a girl who uses her RPG dice to help cope with OCD. Cute yet also a thoughtful look at mental illness.

DNF:

Gate of Air -- not a good sign when I pick up what’s supposed to be the first book in the series and get dumped into chunks of expospeak, as if I’m being caught up on things I missed from a previous book.

Currently Reading:

Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Confessions of a Turtle Wife
The Wild Road
The Green Mile
The Measure

QOTW:

The worst book was definitely Aquarium. This was such an uncomfortable and gross read, and it all felt pointless in the end. I read it for "a book you know nothing about."

The BEST book is more difficult to choose, heh... Though Light from Uncommon Stars (book about gender identity), The House in the Cerulean Sea (BookTok recommendation), and The Golem and the Jinni (twin cities) are among my faves.

Happy Thursday, gang! I picked up four more books at the library yesterday AND grabbed another one for my Kindle, because I felt like it. I was already reading three books. Overload? What's that? Bahahahaha. Anyway, I'm excited about all of them so I'm hoping I'm able to carve out time for everything.

I've been working weird hours this week - my boss is away for the week at a tabletop show in Atlanta (we sell flatware and china/stemware) so I'm working later hours than usual to cover the phones, then a coworker at my second job is on vacation so I have to hustle over there as soon as I'm done to work the closing shift tonight. Plus I have poll worker training tomorrow morning. I'll be glad when this week is done and things are back to normal! Hopefully it'll mean more reading time.

Finished this week:
Fever Dream - 2 stars. Probably my least favorite Pendergast so far, so I'm taking a break and will come back to a print version for the next installment.
Spear - 5 stars. An incredibly beautiful Arthurian retelling, and a novella to boot! Short but tells the story AND there's illustrations.
I Must Betray You - 4 stars. I never properly learned about the Romanian Revolution or much to do with the fall of communism beyond the Berlin Wall coming down and the Soviet Union splintering, so this was fascinating. Book featuring a man-made disaster

PS 34/50
Coming along!

Currently (ehehe):
Wrath Goddess Sing - I took a break from this for a week or so and read a few reviews, and it seems to have recalibrated my mentality about the book, so when I picked it up earlier this week I was ravenous for it. Looking forward to finishing! Book about gender identity
Dreaming the Eagle - I'm looking forward to having time to savor this one (what's time?), because it feels similar to Spear and Wrath Goddess Sing in that it needs time to marinate. Regardless, I'm definitely invested. Starts with the last letter of your previous read - I picked this up after finishing The Living End
The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America's Great Migration - Started this morning and I can already tell it's a masterpiece. However, it's 23hrs long and I have no way of speeding up the audio bc CDs, so I'm going to just love my time with it. Anisfield-Wolf book award winner
The Accidental Empress - This may be a DNF; we'll see what happens once I get through Warmth of Other Suns.
One of Us Is Lying - Started yesterday on a whim and I think I might be hooked. I watched the pilot episode of the tv series last night and I already have lots of thoughts.
Catwoman, Volume 7: Inheritance - Hoping to finish today so I can come back and shift it to my Completed list, but not a big deal if I can't. The mafia storyline in the past volume was my favorite and this is right back to being your typical superhero storyline.

Upcoming (i.e. the rest of that library haul):
What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix
Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies
Locklands
The Angel of Khan el-Khalili - short story
The Drowning Faith - short story

QOTW: What have been your best and worst challenge reads so far this year?
Worst, unfortunately - I read The Dream of the Celt for Book by a Latinx Author. Mario Vargas Llosa is Peruvian and wrote this book, apparently a historical fiction novel, about Roger Casement. Roger was an Irish nationalist who fought for Irish independence and was executed for treason by the English during WWI. Should be a great story, right? The book itself was hugely disappointing, dry, and bounced around so much. I think it would've worked much better as a nonfiction piece if he hadn't inserted dialogue.
Also, HausMagick: Transform Your Home with Witchcraft. I'm all for witchery and stuff but this is way too new-agey for me. Also condones unhealthy practices (do NOT lick rocks, kids).

Best - Daisy Jones & The Six (book about a musician/band) is in my top 5 audiobooks of the year. I was fully immersed in the story and loved every minute of it.
The Silmarillion (constellation on the cover) the depth of Tolkien's lore is truly astounding and I can't wait to reread this.
The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America's Great Migration (Anisfield-Wolf book award winner) is going to be another top 5 audiobook.

Hey Everyone,

Hope you all are enjoying life these days.

Just curious but did anyone spend on Amazon Prime Day these past couple of days?

I slightly went overboard, and when I say slightly I mean a lot. I ended up getting 8 books plus a book cart. So terrible! Especially because it's a result of my bipolar disorder. One or two books was fine plus the cart but everything else was impulse without thinking about it. So bipolar plus deals is not a great combination. YIKES!

Other than that things are good. I moved for a while so that's going okay. We'll just see what happens and how this all works out later on.

*****

Question of the Week

What have been your best and worst challenge reads so far this year?

The best book so far was the one for party: Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change, from 1979 to the Present . Since there was no specific topic for 'party' I went and took it a different route by including political parties which was fun. Fire and Flood was fascinating, and my favorite book I've read all year. I liked the differences between how republicans and democrats all handle climate change differently or not at all. It's so scary when our lives are being threatened and there are people who refuse to believe it's even happening.

The worst topic for me was Anisfield-Wolf. This one was challenging. Even though it was a book read, Beloved I just could not bring myself to get into it. I tried but I just could not understand the concept let alone as to it's popularity and what makes everyone so excited over it.

I'm behind on my July reading. So much going on.

Did you ever read a book as a kid, that you only sort of remembered? Or you remembered irrelevant details that made tracking the book down harder. That happened to me with Witch Princess, But I finally found the title, thanks to Goodreads.

Finished:

Witch Princess
ATY prompt: A book related to mythology
Popsugar prompt: can't find one
(summer prompt: A book with fewer than 5000 goodreads ratings)

ATY - 29/52
PS- 24/35
Series -10/13
Clearing my TBR list: 23/40

Currently reading:

We Were Liars -30% done

Reading with my kids:

At Home in Mitford - 9/24 chapters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 10/37 chapters

QOTW:

Worst book was Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft - anthologies are a mixed bag. Some I gave 4 stars to. Some were 1s, I read it for "historical fiction" (which it wasn't) and "board game"

Best books were Letter from the Birmingham Jail (which I cheated and jammed into BIPOC romance) and The Night Circus (booktok and Monopoly piece)

Hi all,

Had a nice books & brew this week, discussing The Plot. I didn't like it, along with several others. Others liked it, which meant we had a lot of arguments on whether or not it was meant to be satire or just pretentious. In other words, an actually fun conversation and the conversation actually stuck to the book for most the actual book club hour haha. Seems like if everyone agrees, whether the opinion is good, bad, or in between there just isn't much to talk about. The best conversations are when there's disagreements to argue about.

This week I finished:

Hollow Kingdom - this was good over all, but I do NOT recommend to anyone who has trouble with animal deaths. It's from the perspective of domestic animals living through a zombie apocalypse. THat's actually heartbreaking enough, having them not really understanding why their humans aren't taking care of them anymore, and coming to realize they have to fend for themselves now and trying to figure out how to escape homes and such. But then there's battles between animals, dealing with zombies, rabid animals etc. It's mostly saved from being overly grim by the main narrator being a very foul mouthed crow whose narration is light hearted, and the crow is so optimistic about things coming out ok, it keeps it from being too absolutely wrenching. I think i'll eventually get to the second.

City of Bones - finished up the audio. I ended up liking this, but not LOVING it like murderbot. I could definitely see some similar themes, especially between Khait and Murderbot.

The Other Black Girl - This sounded really interesting and I was looking forward to it, but ended up falling flat for me. It felt like a lot of stuff was just...not explained well, and rushed and hand waved away and I wasn't satisfied with the ending at all.

currently reading:

Honey & Spice - saw this on an upcoming book list and requested from library, they must have bought it right away because it came up way sooner than I expected. I'm liking it ok so far, more drama than I usually like.

Chilling Effect - started this before i got hit with a bunch of library holds, so kind of on hold until i clear some of those out.

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age - was having some audio book indecision and couldn't decide what to listen to, came across this on hoopla. I like Annalee Newitz's sci fi a lot, so I thought i'd try their nonfiction. I'd heard about it a while ago and sounded interesting and forgot about it. Liking it so far.

QOTW:

Not really doing the challenge, although I have sort of made notes of what books fit what prompts if it applies.

worst read in general of the year is probably...The Plot. Could work for book with a secret. I just found it pretentious, all the characters were unlikable, the so called amazing plot was eye rolling, and if it was SUPPOSED to be satire, it wasn't clear.

Best is always hard to pick. I did really love Light from Uncommon Stars that could work for gender identity, it was such a weird and wonderful story. I love mashing up science fiction and fantasy and I thought it was lovely and beautiful. The Kaiju Preservation Society was also excellent, would work for parallel universe. Nice cozy sci fi, funny, good comfort read for trying times.

Ron wrote: "Just curious but did anyone spend on Amazon Prime Day these past couple of days?..."



No. I misunderstood what "Prime Day" was. Since 12 is not a prime number, I assumed that "Prime Day" was a 48 hour sale event that ended on the 13th. So I spent the 12th browsing deals, thinking I could buy them on the 13th. Nope! When I logged in on the 13th, those deals were expired. That was annoying. I expressed my irritation by not buying anything at all.



The worst topic for me was Anisfield-Wolf. This one was challenging. Even though it was a book read, Beloved I just could not bring myself to get into it.

I can't tell if you finished the book and checked off the category, or if you DNF'ed and still need to fill that one. I know you are a non-fiction reader, and I'm not sure if you realized there are A LOT of non-fiction choices for this category!! Some of them look kind of dry, but quite a few of them are books that were best-sellers in their time. I'm sure you can find something that will appeal to you:

https://www.anisfield-wolf.org/winner...

Nadine in NY wrote: "Ron wrote: "Just curious but did anyone spend on Amazon Prime Day these past couple of days?..."

No. I misunderstood what "Prime Day" was. Since 12 is not a prime number, I assumed that "Prime D..."

I try to avoid Amazon at all costs, so nope for me.

LOL you guys are smart. I tried to but then my lack of impulse control (ie bipolar symptom) took over and I lost all focus that I just kept clicking and buying books that were on sale.

I think the only good deal I've ever found on prime day is a big box of my preferred brand of poo bags! Amazon gets enough of my money for digital products, I try not to buy physical things from them if I can.

Dubhease wrote: "I'm behind on my July reading. So much going on.

Did you ever read a book as a kid, that you only sort of remembered? Or you remembered irrelevant details that made tracking the book down harder. ..."



oh good lord YES!!! I wish GR was around when I was a kid!! I read SO MANY books. Most of them I've completely forgotten. Some of them I remember just snippets. I've spent the last twenty years slowly re-finding the memorable ones.

Hello!

I finished a few books this past week, and I'm at 27/50 for the challenge.

My Evil Mother: A Short Story by Margaret Atwood - a touch of supernatural and a lot of mother-daughter drama/bonding, used as a book about witches

Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall - read for another challenge; I have a lot of respect for the way the author told this story, which was about allowing people to find their true selves rather than fitting into preconceived boxes

The Fox by Arlene Radasky - dual timeline (following the story of a family who lived in 74 AD and a woman who was researching that same family/village in current day), set in Scotland, it was just ok for me

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor - a brave young woman follows her dreams and promptly finds herself in a dangerous situation, set in space and lots of technology elements, used for the Hugo Award winner prompt

QOTW: By far the worst read for the challenge was Alone in Rehoboth Beach. I think that's been my worst all year, it's just not well written. Luckily I've had a lot of great ones, I think the best have been I'm Not Dying with You Tonight and Furia, but there were other contenders too. I'm happy with the number of good books I've read this year!

Sheri wrote: "... I didn't like it, along with several others. Others liked it, which meant we had a lot of arguments on whether or not it was meant to be satire or just pretentious. In other words, an actually fun conversation and the conversation actually stuck to the book for most the actual book club hour haha. Seems like if everyone agrees, whether the opinion is good, bad, or in between there just isn't much to talk about. The best conversations are when there's disagreements to argue about. ..."


LOL so true!!! It requires a lot of trust within the group to really get a good discussion going, too. In my current book club, it's only a few months old, and we are all still very polite to each other, so I mostly keep quiet when I didn't like the book.




Hollow Kingdom - this was good over all, but I do NOT recommend to anyone who has trouble with animal deaths.


Yes, I had a hard time with this book because of that. It started out light-hearted and irreverently funny. And then ... it wasn't. ,(view spoiler)[I was crushed when the dog died. CRUSHED. (hide spoiler)] I can't decide if I want to read the sequel or not. The ending of HK (view spoiler)[with the human baby (hide spoiler)] seemed to be taking things in a completely different direction that I did not anticipate.

Dubhease wrote: "Finished: Witch Princess
ATY prompt: A book related to mythology."

Wow, for a split second I thought you were reading my book, which coincidentally is named the same. Definitely did a double take before my rational brain kicked in.

Hello! It's been too hot here too with bad humidity, limiting how much we do outdoors. Yesterday was actually quite pleasant, and my husband's day off, so I have no idea why he spent all afternoon inside instead of doing all his outdoor projects. We also have a wedding to go to on Saturday that I am not looking forward to, so I'm in a generally poor mood right now.

Finished This Week:
The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente. Hugo nominee for Best Novella. I'd tried to read a different book by this author before and had to stop fairly quickly, so I was apprehensive going in. But this was oddly enjoyable, about people living on the floating trash pile in the Pacific after the world is flooded and there's no land left. I particularly loved how they divided Garbageland into sections based on things that were thrown out, especially Winditch, full of trophies. Not for PS Prompt.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark. After finishing the short stories and novella, I quite wanted to keep going in the world, and dove into the novel. I loved it. It was good to see the guy agents from the tram car novella, but I was happy Fatma was the main character. I called who the bad guy was fairly early, but not as early as I could. The story as a whole kept me guessing and engaged, with plenty I didn't call. Five stars. Using for PS #5, A Sapphic book.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. Hugo nominee for Best Novel. I finally remembered that I could send all the book files I got in the Hugo voter packet to my Kindle instead of needing to get them from the library, and I experimented with this one. Worked great, and so naturally I had to read it. It's surprising how much conflict you can find in five beings stranded together for a few days. I enjoyed it, although not as much as the first in the series. Sorry to see the series end, though. Using for PS #8, Protagonist with Mobility Aid, since Speaker's legs don't work because of an illness and she needs her suit to move when outside her ship.

Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin. Hugo nominee for Best Graphic Story or Comic. Another one that I knew nothing about going in, not even that it's a Green Lantern comic. It was a good story about a city that blamed emotions for a devastating war, and figured out how to suppress all of their inhabitants from having emotions for thousands of years. Until a drug is developed that can let people feel things again, and a city that hasn't had a murder in a very long time requests a Green Lantern to come help. Written so that you can still understand even if you have zero knowledge of Green Lantern beyond there was a Ryan Reynolds movie once (which is where I came in). Not for PS prompt.

Witchmark by C.L. Polk. First book in the Kingston Cycle, nominated for a Hugo for Best Series. Fantasy world where magic is both heavily prized by the upper classes, but also can cause the lower classes to be locked up if they have any power. Miles was born into a powerful family, but ran away to join the army, and is now working at a veteran's hospital under a fake name. Some of the rules of society didn't quite work for me, but it was a good story. I gave it three stars and requested book 2 from the library. Using for PS #16, about witches, although Miles would argue he's not a witch, he's a mage. Content warning for surprisingly high body count.

PS: 38/50 RH: 8/24 ATY: 41/52 GR: 98/100

Currently Reading:
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser. No progress. Need to get back to it.

Finished Witchmark last night right before bed, so haven't started anything else yet.

Up Next:
Book Lovers by Emily Henry. My hold finally came in, and I'm excited to read it. A group of friends also picked this as their book club reading for August, and I had to tell them our library has a 2700 person waiting list for it. They weren't thrilled.

Plus more Hugo reading:
Iron Widow
Too Like the Lightning
A Snake Falls to Earth
Winter's Orbit
A Desolation Called Peace
Project Hail Mary
Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism

QotW: What have been your best and worst challenge reads so far this year?
Looking through my list, there's not many books I loved that were specifically for this challenge. Looks like my favorite would be Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen, which I'd been wanting to read for a while and used the PS prompt of someone leading a double life as my excuse.

Worst challenge read is harder, because so much of what I've read this year have not been PS challenge specific. The books I've disliked the most were holdovers from 2021 challenges, or for my book club. I'll go with Love Is a Revolution by Renée Watson, which was a holdover from 2021, for Read Harder's fat-positive romance, but would fit for PS#18, Romance by BIPOC author. I disliked the main character, disagreed with her choices, and had to skip whole scenes because I cannot handle people in embarrassing situations.

Nadine, Yeah I had a hard time with (view spoiler)[ Both Cinnamon's death AND Dennis' death. In both cases they seemed kind of senseless, but at the same time, they're both dogs. They were doing dog-like behavior. They weren't human-smart dogs, they were dogs who were being written with human language for the viewer to understand. So on one hand it was like "ugh, really they died like THAT?" but on the other hand, animals die dodging in front of cars or picking fights they can't win or chasing things they shouldn't chase etc all the time. That's why I try so hard to keep my cats inside, I don't want them getting under our shed and picking a fight with the local woodchucks who like to hide there. (hide spoiler)] So I do appreciate what she was doing with the story, even if it was hard to read. I just don't know if I want to immediately dive in for more.

About Amazon Prime Day -- as a Transformers fan, my Facebook feed is full of jokes and puns about it, given that Optimus Prime is so central to our fandom. So I'm enjoying Prime day in my own way, haha...

Dubhease wrote: "Did you ever read a book as a kid, that you only sort of remembered? Or you remembered irrelevant details that made tracking the book down harder. That happened to me with Witch Princess, But I finally found the title, thanks to Goodreads."

That is so frustrating. I'm glad you found it!

I spent YEARS trying to find a book I read in junior high for our school's book tournament. It's very difficult when the only thing you have to go on is "it's about a teenager in the Iditarod and his mom(?) knits booties for the dogs" I asked all my school friends I was still in contact with. I asked my friends who hadn't gone to school with me. I periodically searched every corner of the internet I could find for books about sled dogs or the race. I even emailed the librarian at my old school to see if they kept old records of what the battle books were when I would have participated. (they did not - she sent me that year's list, in case it hadn't been cycled off. it had.) I finally found the battle books list in my old bedroom in my parent's house. It was The Hour of the Wolf.

So, yeah, I disappeared for a LONG time, but I think I'm back now. I have no idea where I am with the challenge. Maybe half done? I haven't even looked at the prompts in at least two months. BUT in that two months we bought a new home, packed up the old one, and moved from Santa Fe, New Mexico to West Richland, Washington! Seth (my 29-year-old son with autism) loves our new house. He's got a huge room with space for his bedroom furniture and a sitting area with a sectional couch and a big TV. We've still got walking trails, and while we can't walk to the movies anymore the theater is only about 15 minutes away.

Challenge Progress: ???/50

Currently Reading:
Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show
The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh (PS5: a sapphic book)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (PS10: an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner)
Tender is the Flesh
Island Time (PS29: a different book by an author you read in 2021)
A Gracious Neighbor (PS26: a book with a misleading title)

QOTW:

The worst book? It's gotta be Femlandia by Christina Dalcher (PS3: a book about or set in a nonpatriarchal society). Having read Dalcher's other novels, I knew Femlandia would not be the utopia it portrayed itself to be, but I was ready for it. Bring on the matriarchal dystopia! It was ugly and horrifying and compelling (just as I expected) right to the very end, but the epilogue completely ruined the book for me. I wish I hadn't read those last few pages.

And the best book? I loved The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson (PS14: a book with cutlery on the cover or in the title). Okay, so trigger warnings EVERYWHERE! In fact, the author includes a note about violence before the novel even begins. If you need a content warning, don't read this book. But OMG if you do, buckle up! This is a wild, violent adventure in a post-covid Florida that is now enmeshed in a new pandemic that manifests as murderous, uncontrollable outbursts and only the wealthy can afford the cure. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Hi all! Having a supremely lazy day today. I don't want to do anything, read, watch TV, nothing. I am watching some TV, picking up a book during commercials and did some laundry. Maybe I'll shower, debatable ;) No reason, just feeling like a slug today.

I finished 2 books last week!
Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black. Interesting use of a myth retelling in WWII. It could fit a lot of prompts, so I'm going to hold off on assigning it until I see a hole someplace later.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy I don't think I have ever been so completely hooked and simultaneously lost reading a book. I wikipedia-ed it after I finished and guess I followed along well enough, but there's so many names and double names and shifting alliances. But I'm also tempted to request the next book and get right back into that world. So I dunno.... lol. Using for a book about a double life.

Since I finished 2 books, I immediately went to the library and checked out 7 more (I counted). That math works out, right? ;)

Currently reading The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, but it's due back tomorrow, so I'll have to request it again.
Shark Dialogues for a book by a Pacific Islander. I'm liking it, but it's due back next week and I have oh, 400 pages left.
Hissy Fit for a book about a party.
Burnt Shadows
The Schoolmaster's Daughter

QOTW: Probably my best books this year have been The Overnight Guest for a book published in 2022 or Ghost Boys for a book about the afterlife. But I did have slight issues with both of them, so there's still room for something to still knock me off my feet.
My worst was Mexican Whiteboy for a book by a Latinx author. So much nothing happened and I just wanted to be done with it.

Hello Everyone!

It has been miserable these past couple days because it's been 100+ degrees. Especially Tuesday and yesterday. It did not cool down on Tuesday so it was still 90 degrees at 9 p.m. It was trying to thunderstorm. The wind did pick up like mad just before 10.

Yesterday sucked soooo much! The humidity was terrible. We have a very low humidity index 10% or less most times. When it gets above that, it's killer.

Two weeks left to go for SRP. In the home stretch now.

Finished:

Kaiju No. 8, Vol. 2
Alice in Borderland, Vol. 1
Arata: The Legend, Vol. 02
Ceres: Celestial Legend, Vol. 2: Yûhi
Ceres: Celestial Legend, Vol. 3: Suzumi
The Abandoned Empress, Vol. 1 (comic)
The Abandoned Empress, Vol. 2
Wish -- bought it so i could read the fourth one!
Fushigi Yuugi The Mysterious Play Ultimate Edition, vol. 1 -- easier to read on my ipad than heft my print copy to read with a squirmy chiweenie dog with me on the chair. He hasn't learned the fine art of "let me read my book and I will pet you still" He's very needy.
The Royal Tutor, Vol. 1
The Royal Tutor, Vol. 2
The Royal Tutor, Vol. 3

Currently Reading:

Fushigi Yûgi: VizBig Edition, Vol. 2
Steins;gate: The Complete Manga
Strike the Zither

Planning to read:

Steins; Gate 0 Omnibus Volume 1
Steins;Gate 0 Volume 2
Steins;Gate 0 Volume 3
Naruto (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 4: Includes Vols. 10, 11 & 12
Naruto (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 5: Includes Vols. 13, 14 & 15
Heart of the Sun Warrior -- NetGalley! So excited.

QOTW:

For the worst, I have to say it's a toss up between Lore Olympus volume 1 or Murder on the Orient Express (aka Murder on the Calais Coach). The first built me up until the end then let me crash and burn in disappointment. The second was just soooo bang your head against a brick wall slow.

For the best, I've had several 5 stars. Each I loved in their own way. Project Hail Mary was fun and I loved the interaction between Ryland and Rocky.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea was one of my first reads this year and I loved the story and relationships between the main characters.
Touch of Darkness was a surprise hit because I really hated her King of Battle and Blood, which was my first book I read by her.
Kaiju Preservation Society was just crazy funny and silly and made my day.
Bofuri 3 was always light, hilarious, and over the top.

Melissa wrote: "I spent YEARS trying to find a book I read in junior high..."


My white whale was such a vivid yet vague memory. I HAD to find it! But googling never worked!! All I had was "probably read in early 80s, probably black cover, the protagonist is a young woman probably sold as a slave to some other emperor and sent with a caravan to his city, one night she woke up to find her leg swallowed by a snake, and before meeting the emperor she braided flowers into her pubic hair." So I grew up thinking that pubic hair would eventually become long enough to braid. THAT never happened!

Sadly, I cannot remember how I FINALLY figured out what the book was. But I did. It was The Serpent. I had the cover pictured in my head, but I was wrong, and I think I was confusing it with a black Zelazny cover. This is the cover of the edition I read: This is the cover I was picturing:

I bought the entire series on thriftbooks. Naturally, I still have not gotten around to re-reading them. But I can now if I want to!! I do plan to reread someday, to see if my memory of the snake and the braided hair was accurate.

This has been a quiet week for me at work. I'm glad, though, because it's been getting hotter here and we don't have AC at home, so I've been hunkered down with fans and my cooling towel trying to beat the heat.

Finished:
Gender Queer - 5 stars, for a book with a character on the ace spectrum. I wanted to read this to support the author, who's being sued by some politician about this book being "indecent", whatever that means. I loved Kobabe's words and imagery.

The Dead Romantics - 2 stars, not for a prompt. I was so torn on this book. If it was just about the main character's family life and returning home to her quirky small hometown, I would have liked it a lot more. I enjoyed that part of the storyline. It felt like the love interest had very little personality beyond "hot" and "workaholic". Both the romance and the ending fell very flat for me. Others are giving this rave reviews, though, so it might just be me.

Comics & manga:
Something's Wrong With Us, Vol. 8
How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 5

I am currently at 42/50 overall for Popsugar (34/40 and 8/10).

Currently reading:
All the Tides of Fate - Book 2 for the duology prompt. So far, so good, although the main character is fairly unlikable at the beginning of this story.


QOTW:
It's hard to pick a worst for the prompts, since I've liked almost all of my prompt reading this year, and my lowest-rated books so far were not read for the challenge. I guess I'd say A Good Girl's Guide to Murder for the misleading title prompt. It was just OK for me. I was interested in the whodunit to read to the end, but had some annoyances with the logic and the outcome.

Best... is also difficult to choose. it's a toss-up between Nettle & Bone (book released in 2022), Legends & Lattes (found family), and Under the Whispering Door (afterlife).

I stayed away from Prime day this year, but did send some clothes that were on sale to the grandmothers for my daughter to have clean clothes to start the school year (seriously- chocolate pudding stains do NOT come out of clothes!)
But Audible also had some killer deals and those *almost* got me.

Laura wrote: "So, yeah, I disappeared for a LONG time, but I think I'm back now. I have no idea where I am with the challenge. Maybe half done? I haven't even looked at the prompts in at least two months. BUT in..."

Moving is like a second job: challenging, absorbing all your time and energy. Nice to read that you are a bit settled now. Enjoy your new home!

Laura wrote: "So, yeah, I disappeared for a LONG time, but I think I'm back now. I have no idea where I am with the challenge. Maybe half done? I haven't even looked at the prompts in at least two months. BUT in..."



Wow that's a big move!!! It took me a long time to finally remember that you were in Santa Fe. I have no idea how long it will take me to remember you moved. tbh I'll probably never remember!!



And the best book? I loved The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson (PS14: a book with cutlery on the cover or in the title). Okay, so trigger warnings EVERYWHERE! In fact, the author includes a note about violence before the novel even begins. If you need a content warning, don't read this book. But OMG if you do, buckle up! This is a wild, violent adventure in a post-covid Florida that is now enmeshed in a new pandemic that manifests as murderous, uncontrollable outbursts and only the wealthy can afford the cure. Crazy, crazy, crazy.


Wow I kind of want to read this now! I still have to read a book for "cutlery" too.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I spent YEARS trying to find a book I read in junior high..."


My white whale was such a vivid yet vague memory. I HAD to find it! But googling never worked!! All I had was "probab..."

I have read tons of books. And I can't remember titles. Just like I don't remember song titles. Or people's names. I can tell you the plot, or hum the music or tell you what someone looked like or did. But titles and names... nope... Brains are a mystery.

We’re buckling up for 3 days of heat: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the temps will be over 30 Celsius (37 on Tuesday, horror!). Bright side: the heat is on workdays, so I can chill at work in the climated controlled office. And it’s only 3 days, so we’re better off than more western and southern parts of Europe. They are already cooking. Dark side: it’s still hot when I go home.

PS: 15/40
Total 2022: 30

Finished
Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard - ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Not for PS.
Part 4 of the series. I just noticed that the titles of the books (in Dutch) are referring to the period of time as well as the lives of the Cazalet family members. O, and I just loved this one, like the other 3 books.

Currently reading
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Finished another chapter.
Unterleuten

QOTW
I don’t read for the challenge this year, I just look if it fits afterwards.

Jennifer W wrote: "But Audible also had some killer deals and those *almost* got me..."

I don't even look at Audible deals because I have *checks* 35 credits! It's ridiculous. When I commuted I had the 24 credits a year plan because it's the cheapest way to buy credits and I listened for 10 hours a week. But you know with Audible there is a max number of credits you can have before you start to lose them...but the last two years I've never got it down enough to drop to a lower plan. I must start listening more!

33/50

Finished: A Duet for Home book about some homeless kids staying in a shelter and taking music lessons.
Life Isn't Binary: On Being Both, Beyond, and In-Between could be used for prompt about gender identity. Highly recommend. Re-read this for a book club and got a lot out of it even the second time through.
An Introduction to Supreme Court Decision Making meh
Decision Making In The Supreme Court Of The United States: A Political And Behavioral View This one was very unprofessional and a pretty good resource.

Started: Steal This Country: A Handbook for Resistance, Persistence, and Fixing Almost Everything I'm not getting as much out of this as I hoped I would.
Light from Uncommon Stars reading for Hugo prompt even though it's just a nominee, not a winner yet.
On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future Pretty good so far.


Qotw: My worst one wasn't really so bad, but when I was applying to review books for School Library Journal, it asked me to write a review for a book I liked and a book I didn't and this was the book I selected for book I didn't: On These Magic Shores. It was similar to other books I had read that did a better job, I thought. I used it for prompt a book by a Latinx author.

For book I really liked, I want to pick A Psalm for the Wild-Built which I hadn't counted as anything, but now think would count for book about gender identity, a hugo award winner, or a book featuring a man-made disaster. Do you think it would count for that last one? That's what I want to count it as. Anyway, a sweet and short book. A lot of the other books I read I enjoyed about the same amount as each other.

K.L. wrote: "Happy Thursday, everyone!

This ended up being a very productive week, which is awesome! In addition to helping my dad move into his new house, I took a second look at my home library this week and..."


You're an inspiration! I felt proud because I let go of 4 books this week. Not much of a comparison.

Ashley Marie wrote: "Throwing my hat into the ring for never reading Faulkner again. I had to read The Sound and the Fury in high school and hated every minute of it. I may yet give Hemingway another shot, but he's not..."

I liked the Sound and the Fury, but there's another one, I think it's Sanctuary, where a woman gets abducted and raped, escapes, and then chooses to go back. That turned me off of Faulkner. A man doesn't get to write such a narrative.

Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Having a supremely lazy day today. I don't want to do anything, read, watch TV, nothing. I am watching some TV, picking up a book during commercials and did some laundry. Maybe I'll shower,..."




I love having a lazy day! I haven't done that in a long time, I should schedule one for myself :-) My kids are going away with their dad later this month (to Cedar Point! GASP! I told them if I went there I'd be the person sitting on the bench holding everyone's bags. My ex said they would need someone like that and I should come along hahaha!) ... I think I need to take a vacation day and do nothing.



Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy I don't think I have ever been so completely hooked and simultaneously lost reading a book.

Wow that sounds awesome! I read one le Carre Smiley book (Call for the Dead) and it was okay but just okay. I should give him another try. He's said to be the Master at espionage novels, after all!!




Since I finished 2 books, I immediately went to the library and checked out 7 more (I counted). That math works out, right? ;)

Yes, of course, that is excellent math!!


I read one book by Kiana Davenport (Song of the Exile) and that was more than enough for me. It was so slow, and long ,and blah. I gave it one star. LOL I'm glad you're enjoying this book more than I enjoyed the book I read!!!

Mandy wrote: It has been miserable these past couple days because it's been 100+ degrees. Especially Tuesday and yesterday. It did not cool down on Tuesday so it was still 90 degrees at 9 p.m. It was trying to thunderstorm. The wind did pick up like mad just before 10.

Ugh, miserable. Temps here have been terrible. In the 100s as well. Gotta love Texas, right? Truly unbearable.

*****

I ended up getting 8 books the past couple of days, 4 fiction and 4 nonfiction surprisingly but 3 of them were the Lord of the Rings set which I had been wanting. And the other was a new Rizzoli & Isles book. The author said she was done after her last RI book in 2017 but this one (5 yrs. later) was a total surprise.

Also with my Prime Day deals I got a tbr cart. So worth the deal on that.

*****

I'm currently starting my book for the witches prompt which also fits for a book I'm reading in a book club. This is the one: Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women

Mandy wrote: "Hello Everyone!

It has been miserable these past couple days because it's been 100+ degrees. Especially Tuesday and yesterday. It did not cool down on Tuesday so it was still 90 degrees at 9 p.m. ..."



Wow!! here when the humidity drops below 60% and I excitedly announce: "it's so nice out, the humidity dropped!!"

Also, for Nadine: I gave The Last Rose of Shanghai a try and ended up putting it down quickly, so I didn't even count it as a DNF. I realized in the first ten pages I didn't like the writing style, so I'm skipping it!

Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Having a supremely lazy day today. I don't want to do anything, read, watch TV, nothing. I am watching some TV, picking up a book during commercials and did some laundry...."

I'm taking a break after I suddenly decided that I *had* to move bookcases across the house (a cheap plastic one of my kid's stuff swapped with a sturdier wooden one for my stuff). So much for lazy! lol

I'm still undecided myself about le Carre. The best analogy I can come up with is it's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, you read a couple chapters, put a couple pieces together, read a few more, get a few more pieces, but then when you look back at the first set of pieces you assembled, they've fallen apart again! As a reader (and a puzzler), I can't just leave pieces everywhere! So onward I read, and pieces kept flying! lol It definitely required a lot of quiet time to read and focus on the book.

I remember you saying you had a hard time with Davenport, but so far, I'm liking it well enough. I do still have a long way to go, however.

I'm the theme park bag holder, too. Anything faster than the merry-go-round and I'm queasy!

I spent most of this week sick. Supposedly not COVID, though I wonder about that… Today is the first day since this past Saturday that I have felt as if I could get up and actually do something. I haven’t even had enough energy to read! :(

I discovered this listing of 7 books which include characters with intellectual disabilities in honor of July as Disability Pride Month! https://offtheshelf.com/2022/07/autho...

One of the blogs I follow, African Book Addict (https://africanbookaddict.com/), had a posting regarding the 2022 AKO Caine Prize Winner that listed all the short-listed work. The AKO Caine Prize was formerly known as the Caine Prize for African Writing which was first awarded in 2000. This is an award open to writers from anywhere in Africa for work published in English. It is focused on the short story format, reflecting the contemporary development of the African story-telling tradition. The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing is a registered charity whose aim is to bring African writing to a wider audience using this annual literary award. The five 2022 short-listed stories are listed below with a direct link to each story included.

*“Collector of Memories” by Joshua Chizoma of Nigeria, published by Afritondo (2021): https://www.afritondo.com/afritondo/c...
This was a bit desolate and thought-provoking.

*”The Double-Edged Inheritance” by Hannah Giorgis of Ethiopia, published by Addis Abba Noir (2020): https://www.google.com/books/edition/...
Firstly, it is difficult to imagine having siblings at all, since I have none, but to have your twin who died replaced by an outsider who is then favored over yourself? I would consider that to be unbearable…

*“When a Man Loves a Woman” by Nana-Ama Danqua of Ghana, published by Accra Noir (2021): https://africanbookaddict.files.wordp...
Another rather desolate story with the reader left to imagine their own ending…

“Five Years Next Sunday” by Idza Luhumyo of Kenya, published by Disruption (2021): https://africanbookaddict.files.wordp...
This was rather upsetting to me. Ugh…

“The Labadi Sunshine Bar” by Billie McTernan of Ghana, published by Accra Noir (2021): https://africanbookaddict.files.wordp...
This was quite the story. A definite ending, and definitely not one that left me with a good feeling…

ADMIN STUFF:
The July Monthly Group Read discussion of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is under way! You can find that discussion in the Current Monthly Group Read folder along with the posting for July’s “I Finished” discussion thread. Those are HERE. Thank you so much to Teri for leading this month’s discussion! Piranesi will fulfill prompt #47 A book featuring a parallel reality I am leaving June’s discussion there as well for now and am trying to finalize that this week. I was simply to ill to tackle much of any reading this week, let alone something intense...

Hear ye! Hear ye! These are the Monthly Group Reads still needing discussion leaders:
1) August: a "marvelous manager" to lead the discussion of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
2) September: a “savvy superstar” to lead the discussion of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
3) October: a “knowledgeable navigator” to lead the discussion of The Ex Hex (The Ex Hex #1) by Erin Sterling
Please message either Nadine or myself to volunteer!

We will continue with our 2022 selections next week with a nomination poll for November’s Monthly Group Read which will fulfill prompt #9 A book about a “found family” in honor of family gatherings common for holidays/the holiday season! I have created a separate listing of 2020-2022 Monthly Group Read selections that CANNOT be considered for November 2022 or December 2022 in the 2022 Monthly Group Reads folder HERE. The first listing is alphabetical by title and the second is chronological. I used Nadine’s excellent listing and added the last two months’ selections. (It is always easier for me to search an alphabetical listing by title so I selfishly included that ordered list as well! LOL) I'll continue this for 2023 and hopefully make it easier for everyone (Okay, yes, mainly for myself! LOL) to consult the listing of books NOT to be considered/nominated!

The comprehensive listing of Monthly Group Reads for 2022 is HERE.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What have been your best and worst challenge reads so far this year?
So many bests from which to choose. But one of my favorite finds this year is the Wrexford & Sloane historical fiction mystery series by Andrea Penrose. All of these books fit the “found family” prompt so well, IMO! The first is Murder on Black Swan Lane is the first one if anyone is interested.

Worst. Uhm. Unfortunately, a children’s book holds that honor thus far for 2022: Johnny's in the Basement by Louis Sachar. I would love to know how the target audience of juveniles would rate this one. I was not at all impressed…

Though I am not caught up with documenting books, my challenge totals are:
Popsugar: 40/50
ATY: 48/52
RHC: 13/24

FINISHED:
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller (5 STARS) was a heartwarming and wonderfully imaginative story of family. Definitely read the author’s note, as there was much worthwhile and pertinent information which, IMO, made the story even more personalized and special. This was a coming-of-age story (for both sisters) as well as accepting and dealing with grief in the aftermath of lost loved ones… And as is so often true, the bits and pieces of ourselves we do not share with those closest to us.
POPSUGAR: #4, #19-summer, #25, #36, #38, #40-2015: prompt #6 A book written by someone under 30 years of age, #42, #46
ATY: #4-A book whose author is younger than you, #6-Stars in a jar, #7, #12-glass jars, #15, #18, #28, #30, #35-mugwort, #36-tigers, #40-Strength, Death, The Sun, The Moon, The Star, Judgment, The World, #41, #43, #44, #46, #50, #49
RHC: #24-2016: Read a middle grade novel

CONTINUING:
Beloved by Toni Morrison is an amazing word of classical fiction, IMO.
June Buddy Reads I have yet to finish:
*When the Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe
*Double Cross (Alex Cross #13) by James Patterson

PLANNED:
July Buddy/Group Reads:
*The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
*One Good Turn (Jackson Brodie #2) by Kate Atkinson
*Raven Black (Shetland Island #1) by Ann Cleeves
*Cross Country (Alex Cross #14) by James Patterson
STILL PLANNING THESE BELOW AS WELL!
*Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
*The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
*Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
*Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
*Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Ashley Marie wrote: "Also, for Nadine: I gave The Last Rose of Shanghai a try and ended up putting it down quickly, so I didn't even count it as a DNF. I realized in the first ten pages I didn't like th..."



glad to hear it's not just me. Because sometimes I wondered if I didn't give it a fair shot.

Katy wrote: "I was supposed to read The Old Man and The Sea in HS. I didn't finish it. And I'm never EVER ever reading anything by Hemingway again, either. ..."



That's a book that my mom always said she loved (and she doesn't say that often) so I feel like I need to give it a try someday.

Mandy wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "Finished: Witch Princess
ATY prompt: A book related to mythology."

Wow, for a split second I thought you were reading my book, which coincidentally is named the same. Definitely d..."

There are a lot of books with the title. This one is from 1967 and is a sympathetic and almost feminist book about Medea from the POV of an 11 year old girl who serves as her handmaid and gets captured with Medea on the Argo.

Lynn wrote: "I spent most of this week sick. Supposedly not COVID, though I wonder about that… Today is the first day since this past Saturday that I have felt as if I could get up and actually do something. I ..."



oh no!! get well soon!! or, at least get well enough to read.


But one of my favorite finds this year is the Wrexford & Sloane historical fiction mystery series by Andrea Penrose. All of these books fit the “found family” prompt so well, IMO! The first is Murder on Black Swan Lane

I have that on my TBR list!

Hi everyone. It's been a strange week. On Friday I took a huge fall on my way to work and I've made a mess of my knee so I've been limping around a lot. Of course, this is the week I had a lot of walking and physical stuff to do at work so with the injury, my cold and the heat, I've felt exhausted all week. It was my day off today so I've tried to do as little as possible (caught up on The Umbrella Academy and played The Sims) but I already feel tired for tomorrow.

This week I finished...nothing...again. I am technically still reading The Woman in White but it's hard to concentrate on misty, Victorian England when you're in the middle of a heatwave and trying not to melt. I think I need to pause this one for a while.

I've never read any Faulkner but I hated The Old Man and the Sea so I've avoided Hemingway for years. I do have a copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls that I've never read that I keep putting off.

QOTW: Not technically for the challenge but my least favourite books this year were King Solomon's Mines and Less. This former took too long to get to the actual mines and didn't deliver on the adventure part of an adventure novel, the latter had a very irritating main character and I just did not care what happened to him.

My favourite is harder to pick. A Song for a New Day was an amazing view of our potential future if things go the way they're currently headed. Gideon the Ninth was so immersive and I fell in love with the main character. The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks is the first book I've read to accurately depict what it is like inside my head (plus adventure and more Monty). Gilded and Thorn were (unrelated) fairy tale re-tellings with well-rounded female main characters fighting in their own ways to survive. I can't pick just one!