Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

We got rain last night and this morning. Our growing season has been very well balanced with periodic rains that have kept enough moisture for good growth of crops. My son lives just 65 miles from me but said his lawn was dead for a whole month and is just now coming back to life, though I guess the field crops weren’t affected much. And his lawn is usually lush with just minimal rain… Weather varies so much within relatively little distance, at least it seems to here.

My good friend who survived the aortic valve replacement is still dealing with AFIB and irregularities with her heart. In the follow-up with the TAVR surgeon yesterday, he stated it may take as long as 9 months for the heart muscle to fully recover and regain its ability to flex more appropriately since it had stiffened up and lost much of its flexibility. That made both of us feel a bit better. I asked him questions regarding this procedure, and it seems he has been one of the first to perform this procedure in our area. And it was initially developed in Europe and when they did the first one in Indiana, a surgeon from Germany actually oversaw and taught them how to do it. I thought that was cool! You just never know how information has crossed boundaries to help others around the world.

The pools in my gym are closed for resurfacing. They are assuming it will require the whole month of August, so I searched for another heated therapy pool and did find one within a decent driving distance, though it is so small as to almost not be useful to me. It is probably 3-4 times the size of the whirlpool in our gym, and I’m learning that most of the people who have been there when I’m there simply use it as an after workout/swim relaxation as we use our whirlpool in "my" gym. I am preparing to participate in their ONE aquatic class this Friday which is held in their lap pool. Not sure how this will work for me, but I do know one thing, I WANT MY BIG HEATED THERAPY POOL BACK! LOL :) And this new-to-me gym is only open 8AM-4PM Monday through Friday! No weekend hours at all. I had thought I might keep my membership active to go workout on the bikes, etc, on days when I’m not working out in the pool at the other gym. But I don’t know if it’s worth it even if they do accept Silver Sneakers and it wouldn’t cost me anything… And yes, I am fully aware these are strictly FIRST WORLD problems/complaints. So I need to stress gratefulness for what I have, where I live, etc. Okay, rant over! LOL :)

ADMIN STUFF:
Erica is the "marvelous manager" who has graciously volunteered to lead the August discussion of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller! This discussion can be found HERE and the August "I Finished!" thread is HERE! This can be used to fulfill prompt #35 A book with a constellation on the cover or in the title. The theme was selected for August to coincide with the Perseid Meteor Shower which is typically from mid-July to around mid-August. It is expected to peak August 11-12 in 2022! (So next week!)

We currently have two Monthly Group Reads still needing discussion leaders:
1) September: a “savvy superstar” to lead the discussion of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
2) 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!

Thanks to Nadine, the final selection poll for the November Monthly Group Read can be found HERE! Go ahead and vote now! This will satisfy prompt #9 A book about a “found family” as was decided by a group poll!

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

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Have you ever had a “favorite book” highly recommended to you by a friend/acquaintance and your reaction to it was very negative? How did you handle the discussion with that person?

I ask this question because the first couple of times this happened to me, my immediate answer was “Yeah, I didn’t like it at all!” or “What in the world did you find to enjoy about this?” And then I thought how rude, especially when I would see my friend’s shocked and appalled reaction!

I have learned to ask up front when someone recommends a book exactly what they liked about it. That can help me decide (1) Whether I even want to try reading it or not, (2) Whether I might appreciate the same things about the book. It also helps me better determine whether we look for the same things in a book.

For example, if they state that the action was what they liked, I might give it a pass. I would probably follow-up with a question regarding the characters. If someone can’t tell me about the characters, then I typically know it is most likely not a book I would enjoy. On the other hand, if a reader can talk about and describe the characters, I will typically enjoy the book as well.

I guess I’ve just learned to gather more information before I launch into reading a book based upon someone else’s recommendation… Plus I’ve learned to be a bit more diplomatic when asked what I thought of it. Now I might say, “I found the characterization to be a bit lacking, though I did enjoy the overall plot.” Or “While the characterization was well developed and I felt connected to the characters, the plot just didn’t work for me somehow…” Or, hopefully, I can simply say, “Wow! I loved it, too!”

I was just curious if anyone else has experienced such situations before and how you handled it…

Though I am STILL not caught up with documenting books, my challenge totals are:
Popsugar: 41/50
ATY: 50/52
RHC: 15/24

And since I’ve been super-busy with other things, but trying like mad to finish July Buddy Reads, I have yet to document this week’s books, but will be working to finish that yet today and then update my posting. *sigh*
FINISHED:
*One Good Turn (Jackson Brodie #2) by Kate Atkinson (5 STARS) was absolutely excellent, IMO! I much preferred this second book in the series to the first one. And boy, oh boy, Atkinson is certainly a master at weaving interconnectedness among the characters and subplots/plot! Amazing!
POPSUGAR: #25, #36, #40-2015: prompt #5 A book with a number in the title, #46
ATY: #1-Terence Smith/”Honda Man”, #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): It was quoted in the book!, #7-this book definitely played with my mind!, #15, #31-2006, #33, #40-The Lovers, Strength, Justice, Death, Judgment, The World, #49
RHC: #24-2020: prompt #3 Read a mystery where the victim is not a woman

*Telling Tales (Vera Stanhope #2) by Ann Cleeves (5 STARS) was the bleakest most desolate atmospheric tale I’ve read. It was a good mystery and I appreciated all the characters since Cleeves did an excellent job of fleshing them all out fully, IMO!
POPSUGAR: #9, #25, #40-2020: prompt #46 A book written by an author who has published more than 20 books, #46
ATY: #1-Abigail, Emma’s best friend who was murdered, #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): Perfect for such a bleak and desolate atmosphere/location, #5, #7, #29, #31-2005, #32, #33, #40-The Lovers, Strength, Justice, Death, Judgment, The World, #43, #44, #49
RHC: #24-2020: prompt #10 Read a book that takes place in a rural setting

*The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (4 STARS) was very slow-moving and I think a philosophical statement regarding our ability (perhaps INability is a better word) as humans to simply “let go” of memories/experiences that might otherwise make us dislike or distrust others.
POPSUGAR: #9, #25, #31, #36, #40-2020: prompt #33 A book with at least a 4-star rating on Goodreads-4.14, #46-Sir Gawain
ATY: #1-Axl, #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal), #7-the mist, #11, #15, #30, #40-Strength, Justice, Death, Judgment, The World, #41, #43, #44, #46-the buried giant, #49, #50
RHC: #13, #24-2020: prompt #7 A historical fiction novel not set in WW II

*Raven Black (Shetland Island #1) by Ann Cleeves (5 STARS) was another example of Cleeves’ ability to create a bleak, desolate, and especially isolated environment in which the characters interact. Though not as bleak (to me) as was Telling Tales, it was still dismal… I found the solution to both murders confounding and pretty shocking, though believable. As usual, Cleeves had me suspecting multiple characters! I liked Jimmy and will definitely continue the series as monthly buddy reads.
POPSUGAR: #25, #36, #40-2017: prompt #39 A book that is the first in a series I haven’t read yet, #46-Sally
ATY: #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal), #5, #7, #29, #31-2006, #34, #36-Ravens!, #40-The Lovers, Strength, Justice, Death, Judgment, The World, #43, #44, #49, #50
RHC: #24-2020: prompt #10 A book in a rural setting

CONTINUING:
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
*Cross Country (Alex Cross #14) by James Patterson. Halfway through this one and I’m reserving judgment until I finish…
*The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed

PLANNED:
August Buddy/Group Reads:
*Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
*Hidden Depths (Vera Stanhope #3) by *Ann Cleeves
*When Will There Be Good News? (Jackson Brodie #3) by Kate Atkinson
White Nights (Shetland #2) by Ann Cleeves
*Alex Cross's Trial (Alex Cross #15) by James Patterson
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
SFB Book Club:
*A Study in Honor (The Janet Watson Chronicles #1) by Claire O'Dell

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

Lynn wrote: "We got rain last night and this morning. Our growing season has been very well balanced with periodic rains that have kept enough moisture for good growth of crops. My son lives just 65 miles from ..."

I hope for the best for your friend. *many hugs*

I managed to finish a poem/collection of poetry that bored me to death. Some books are easy reads and this one wasn't.

Finished:

Le Bonheur: Poeme
ATY prompt: A book that won an award from Powell's list of book awards (Nobel Prize)
Popsugar prompt: A book about the afterlife
(summer prompt: A collection of essays, poems, or short stories )

ATY - 32/52
PS- 27/35
Series -10/13
Clearing my TBR list: 25/40

Currently reading:

The Halloween Tree - almost 30% done

The Summer Tree - about 15% done

Home Before Dark - 45% done

Reading with my kids:

At Home in Mitford - 15/24 chapters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 21/37 chapters

QOTW:

2 books spring to mind. I'm in a writer's group and one year, two people insisted I read books. The first was a book a friend had published. It has about 5 reviews on Goodreads. My one star review actually knocked it down from 4 stars to 3. I've never felt so powerful on this site. The book had no real plot, I found spelling mistakes, the characters were boring, and everyone in the book praised the small town in which they lived. I found out later that the book was funded by the town.

The second books was "Life After Life". I think someone wanted us to read it because of the constant rebirth concept. The structure of the book was interesting. But Ursula and her lives were a snooze. I think I gave it 2 stars because of the potential.

In both cases, I was honest. I said that the first was badly written and that the second bored me and honestly, I'm tired of WWII books and movies.

Finished: Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! I enjoyed this, but it needed some serious editing! It was a collection of essays from different authors and many of them were redundant.

Started: The Politicization of the Supreme Court using for prompt about parties

Creating Citizens: Teaching Civics and Current Events in the History Classroom, Grades 6–9

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Qotw: The first thing I can think of is an acquaintance said his favorite book was The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay, so I read it. I didn't hate it, but it was just meh. I never brought it up with him after that. I think this is probably what I tend to do: just avoid it. Which probably is dumb, we could probably have a good discussion about it even if I didn't especially like it.
Another time I read Kristen Lavran's Datter (sp?) because my grandma said it was her favorite book and then all she had to say about it was that the heroine fell in love with someone her family didn't want her to date. It was a LOOOONG book to just get that much conversation out of it. I thought, welp, I won't be doing that again.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

This week started out very productively. I managed to make another trip to the used bookstore to let go of some more books, and also finally got around to dropping off several boxes of donations at Goodwill.

Unfortunately, that’s where my productivity ended, because while I was loading boxes into the car I managed to re-pull the exact same muscles that I pulled back in December.

Since I really can’t do any lifting or strenuous exercise for a while, most of my household projects had to be put on hold. I can’t really complain too much though, because it’s been a great excuse to spend most of the week on the couch alternating between reading the Fairy Tail manga series and continuing my re-watch of Doctor Who.

Goodreads: 374/200
TBR Checklist: 318/1033

Finished Reading:
~Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 22
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 23
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 24
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 25
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 26
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 27
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 28
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 29
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 30
~FoxTrot: A FoxTrot Collection
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 31
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 32
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 33
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 34
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 35
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 36
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 37
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 38
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 39
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 40
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 41
~Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board

DNF:
~Parasite — This book ended up back on my TBR this year because I needed to re-read it prior to tackling the remaining books in the trilogy. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t stay focused on the story and ended up DNF-ing it about 90 pages in.

Currently Reading:
~Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy
~Call Us What We Carry

QOTW:
I can’t think of a time when this has happened to me.

So I start school in a couple weeks... and I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit nervous. Wish me luck, folks, haven't been to college before...

Books read this week:

A Buffalo in the House: The True Story of a Man, an Animal, and the American West -- partly an endearing story about a couple raising a baby bison to adulthood, and partly the heartbreaking story of how the United States nearly exterminated the bison in America and still hampers conservation efforts of these majestic animals today.

The Emperor's Edge -- is it me, or has steampunk pretty much run its course? This felt fairly generic to me, and the steampunk elements were barely present.

Void Black Shadow -- sequel to Killing Gravity. I love Mars as a character, even if she’s terrifying and has a death count nearing the million mark by now… also fair warning, this series is violent and kinda gory…

Death & Sparkles -- graphic novel. Rather goofy and over-the-top account of how Death and the last unicorn became best friends, but still cute and shamelessly makes fun of the “influencer” lifestyle.

DNF:

The Status Civilization -- yes, I know it’s a sci-fi classic. That doesn’t mean it can’t be boring as heck. Reviews hail this as a satire and as an exciting adventure story about an amnesiac man on a prison planet, but it feels like the only “satire” present is in flipping the planet’s morality system around (so things like murder, drug addiction, and the worship of Evil are mandated by law), which is… not clever. Or maybe it was clever in the ‘60s when this was written…

Currently Reading:

Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows
Sea of Rust
The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman
Journey to the Center of the Earth

QOTW:

I had a friend recommend the Dresden Files books to me, and I finally gave in and read the first in the series, Storm Front. It wasn't terrible, just underwhelming. I told him so, and he assured me "it gets better four or five books in." Maybe it does, but I don't want to slog through four or five mediocre books just so I understand what's going on in the later ones...

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

This week started out very productively. I managed to make another trip to the used bookstore to let go of some more books, and also finally got around to dropping off se..."

Sounds like you were as productive as you could safely do. That's still something to celebrate!

booktok recommendation

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare. YA horror. Teenagers are stalked at a party by a clown. Did it have great character development? No. Does it give slasher movie in their hey day vibes? Absolutely. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Content warning: lots of death, lots.

sapphic book

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuisten. YA. Shara Wheeler goes missing and leaves clues. Enjoyable but One Last Stop was heaps better.

No prompt

Presidential Chaos by Saxon James. M/M contemporary romance. It was okay. Not enough of the feelings part for me but I didn't hate reading it.


QOTW:
This happens often with books recommended by my students. Colleen Hoover currently has a chokehold on some of them and my go to response is it was good, it just didn't work for me.

I finished my second and last project this year: migrating our municipality’s website to a new content management system platform (for geeks: Drupal 7 to Drupal 9)!! I got my job because of this project 2,5 years ago and now it’s finally done. I look forward to my vacation (in 2 weeks) knowing there’s no major project waiting for me at work.

PS: 16/40
Total 2022: 34

Finished
The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting ⭐⭐⭐⭐
PS #19, a book that takes place during your favorite season (I like all seasons and they are all in this book).
Norwegian legends, magical realism, religion, a secluded Norwegian village where life is hard and a woman dreaming of worlds far away. It’s kind of a Norwegian version of Isabel Allende’s books. Enjoyed it.

Currently reading
All Change
The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End

QOTW
Have you ever had a “favorite book” highly recommended to you by a friend/acquaintance and your reaction to it was very negative? How did you handle the discussion with that person?
Once. I just told her honestly that I didn’t like it that much. It just wasn’t my cup of tea exactly. And I said I knew why she recommended it to me and that I would have picked it up myself if I saw it in the library. So she wasn’t thinking that crazy. And that was just that. I think one should be honest about it. What you think of a book is a personal thing, not factual.

Everything's so dry here, we haven't had proper rain in ages and the rivers are so low. There's an actual hotline to ring if you see fish in distress. There was a bit of drizzle yesterday but it hasn't made a dent on the sun-baked ground.

Finished:
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson which ended up fulfilling the gender identity prompt (trans witch, TERF villain). This was fun, I liked how the witches were my generation and British so they had familiar pop culture references and it was just nice to have an urban fantasy with characters who aren't in their teens or twenties.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin for ATY (from the best books of the month threads). This was a beautiful and emotional story about friendship and game dev. Again I liked that the cultural references vibed with me (You have died of dysentery!), would recommend to anyone with the faintest interest in games. Hankies at the ready.

I'm still listening to The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the Discovery of DNA's Double Helix (it's so dry).

PS: 35/50 | ATY: 35/52 | GR: 71/100

QOTW:
I tend not to read people's favourite books unless they sound like something I would actually like. I remember so many people raving over The Time Traveller's Wife but I didn't read it for years, not until I had to for a prompt...and it was just icky. I am glad I can't remember exactly who wanted me to read it!

I finished The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress as my Hugo award winner. i guess it was alright. Not really into sci-fi.

I finished Hissing Cousins: The Untold Story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth as my book with an onomatopoeia in the title. Pretty interesting.

I've just started A Long Petal of the Sea as my book by a Latina writer. I'm literally 15 pages in, so not much of an opinion thus far.

QOTW: I don't really have friends that recommend books to me. The only one I can think of is someone I used to work with. I think the book was called Chasing Alice, or something, and I didn't really like it, but the main character was kind of like me, so I also didn't know if she was giving it to me as a self-help book or something. I gave up after 100 pages and just told her I didn't like it. Come to think of it she also recommended Ash(?) by Alice Hoffman (I can't find a book by that name, but I feel like it's close. I thought it was just OK, so when she asked, I said it was alright.

On the flip side, if I rec a book that someone doesn't like, I don't really care other than maybe feeling bad for wasting their time. It's not like I wrote the book, after all.

Happy Thursday! We're getting rain today after a week of muggy air. I always hope rain will cool things off, but when it's this warm it usually just makes it that much steamier. Oh well! The grass and flowers are thankful.

I'm in a really garbage mood today and the only reason I can figure is that I haven't had a lot of time to myself this week, so I feel super-behind on reading. (view spoiler)[A coworker at my day job tested positive for Covid, so I've spent this week covering for him which means I only get an hour or so in the afternoon to myself when I'm used to being at my desk all day. I spent Tuesday working the polls (5:30am-8pm) and while I took my Kindle along, one of my coworkers kept us all entertained with jokes and trivia. It was a good change of pace, but considering how we only had 150ish people show up to vote, I'd been hoping to finish a book that day lol. Then I went into my second job for a last-minute assist last night, so that took a chunk out of another evening. (hide spoiler)] Not to mention picking up another library haul and getting distracted by things that hadn't already been on my currently-reading pile... sigh. The struggle is real lol

Finished:
The Makers of Scotland: Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings - 2.5 stars. Interesting in spots, very dry in others, and it jumped around a lot. It was short, though!

PS 38/50

Currently:
Dreaming the Eagle - This one has stalled in favor of other more distracting books, but I want to get back to it ASAP! Starts with the last letter of your previous read
Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies - I also need to get back to this because while there seems to be a bit of shoddy research w/r/t pop culture references, it's still fairly interesting
Three Parts Dead - I started this last weekend but it may go back on the TBR for next month instead, so I can read it with another of my groups
A Plain-Dealing Villain - The book I absolutely want to be at home reading right now
Clap When You Land - Feeling especially behind with this because it's my audiobook at work right now, and it's short, and I'd originally planned to get through it in a day or two. Instead it's been here since Monday Onomatopoeia in the title
The Kindly Ones - Picked this up last night because yes, clearly I need one more thing on the Current list. But I'm so close to being done with this series, and the tv show drops on Netflix tomorrow!

So. Many. Books.

Have you ever had a “favorite book” highly recommended to you by a friend/acquaintance and your reaction to it was very negative? How did you handle the discussion with that person?
I don't know that I've had this happen, but I know it's happened to friends to whom I've recommended books lol. In both the instances I'm thinking of (two different people and two different books), they said the same thing: the pacing was too slow (which blew my mind in one case and not so much in the other).

Harmke wrote: "I finished my second and last project this year: migrating our municipality’s website to a new content management system platform (for geeks: Drupal 7 to Drupal 9)!! I got my job because of this pr..."

Congrats for finishing! :D

Happy Thursday! It's hot. Bleh.

Finished 28/50

The Lion and the Saint: A Novella for "a book with two perspectives". This was actually pretty good. Nice, quick read!

Currently Reading

Dune for "Hugo award winner". Came highly recommended! I'm enjoying it so far!

QotW

I recently finished a book a friend liked that I thought was only so-so. I just thanked her for lending it to me and gave it back at a party so we didn't have time to discuss it. XD I'm known in my circles for my book reviews though, so people tend to know what they're getting into when they lend me things to read.

Finished:

How the Mountains Grew: A New Geological History of North America - This one was a lot more fun than I expected. It started off pretty dry but the more I got into it the better it became. It's not a book I would normally read but I've always found the science/subject of geology to be fascinating.

Mental Illness Is an Asshole - And Other Observations - This book was perfect in so many ways. While it touched on some anxiety and some depression, it's main focus was on bipolar disorder. There was a lot that made sense to me since I've experienced certain aspects too.

Started:

Jurassic Park - I've been wanting to read this book for years but never gotten around to it. Hopefully now I'll be able to stick to it.

Planned:

The Wish - Even though I have the hardback, I was waiting for the paperback because I want to annotate it, that and I just never provided myself the time to read it because I was always reading other books.

Prozac Nation - This has been on my list for a long time. I'd heard about it years ago but never thought much of it. Now though it's gotten on my radar within the past year so it's one I've really been wanting to read.

QOTW:

Have you ever had a “favorite book” highly recommended to you by a friend/acquaintance and your reaction to it was very negative? How did you handle the discussion with that person?

Fun question. I wish I could say I have but unfortunately, no one in my RL reads much and even then they don't make direct recommendations. so most of my book conversations are one way. I'm usually the one who talks about if I like a book or not. Most of the time people can't really respond since they haven't read the books I have in general.

Chandie wrote:

This happens often with books recommended by my students. Colleen Hoover currently has a chokehold on some of them and my go to response is it was good, it just didn't work for me

This is what I don't get. There's so much hype over Colleen Hoover and while I don't see the appeal (but then maybe I shouldn't judge because I don't read much fiction), at the same time she's everywhere to the point that, personally, I find it a little too annoying for my taste so it kind of puts me off from wanting to read her work. But maybe that's just me and that's okay.

Ellie wrote:
I tend not to read people's favourite books unless they sound like something I would actually like. I remember so many people raving over The Time Traveller's Wife but I didn't read it for years, not until I had to for a prompt...and it was just icky. I am glad I can't remember exactly who wanted me to read it!

Same here. A lot of the time I'll just smile and make the play of "oh that sounds interesting, I'll look into it" but then rarely do. And since I read a lot of nonfiction, being suggested books by others usually doesn't work since they recommend fiction more than 89% of the time.

Hi All, the weather report is hot here with afternoon showers. I read 4 books for the week. None for this challenge. My library books are slowly coming in so hopefully soon a book for this challenge will arrive.
1. The Shadow Box. 4 stars. This was a new to me author. There were a few spots that were hard to believe but I went with it. This book has been on my kindle queue since last year so it was good to read it.
2. Rogue Protocol. 4 stars. One of my favorite series.
3. Death Without Company. 4 stars. I like this series too.
4. Salt to the Sea. 3 stars. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. A new to me author that I have wanted to read. I'm a little worried because I own I Must Betray You. I was saving it for 2023 challenges.
QOTW: A friend lent me The Memory Collectors. It was out of the blue & she thought I would like it. To me it was a book about hoarders. I can't remember exactly what I said but I did say it was about hoarders.

Lynn wrote: "
*Raven Black (Shetland Island #1) by Ann Cleeves (5 STARS) was another example of Cleeves’ ability to create a bleak, desolate, and especially isolated environment in which the characters interact ..."


Another book we agree on!!! I didn’t give it five stars but I do remember being impressed and wanting to read more of that series.


We haven’t had much rain, and it’s been so hot. I set up hose timers at home to keep things watered, and my ex visited to check on them and says they are working well. Phew!!

I'm posting this before my flight home to Switzerland today! It was a great summer, mostly relaxing, reading a lot of books (got 21 read in the last 5 weeks), and seeing family. We start back to school/work next week with meetings, with students coming the following week.

I also finished my 5th ever PopSugar Reading Challenge this week on July 30th. I am grateful to this challenge for expanding my reading repertoire and for reminding me how much I loved reading before work and teaching had gotten in the way ... I hope the challenge continues on.

Read
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird - I think I ugly-cried this entire book. It was sad, hopeful, sweet, romantic. It was my last PS challenge book at prompt #47 - a book featuring parallel realities.

The Hacienda - interesting gothic fiction. I enjoyed the Rebecca vibes to it.

At the Wolf's Table - historical fiction about the female taste-testers/poison-testers for Hitler's food. The author based it loosely on the life story of one of the women, and it was a story of survival, female friendship (and some betrayals), and how war can change people.

I ended up using A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting for prompt #26 - a book with a misleading title. I figured I may as well as it wasn't really a guide to fortune-hunting but actually was a fun take on one woman's desire to support her family and help her sisters by marrying into money, despite her having little herself. It was a charming read.

I'm not sure what's next on my list, as work and grad school are starting again soon, but I've started to dive into my backlog of Kindle books after updating on Prime Day to a newer Paperwhite. Currently reading A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes for no reason other than I'm interested in the history of natural disasters and such.

Ron wrote: "Finished:

How the Mountains Grew: A New Geological History of North America - This one was a lot more fun than I expected. It started off pretty dry but the more I got into it the ..."


LOL no that doesn’t sound like it would be fun, but your description sounds great so I added it to my TBR

Ron wrote: "Jurassic Park - I've been wanting to read this book for years but never gotten around to it. Hopefully now I'll be able to stick to it."

I loved this when I read it a few years ago! I listened to the audiobook, which I found quite enjoyable. Have fun, Ron!

Hi all! Kind of a crap week here. My boyfriend tested positive for covid last weekend, but we quickly got him on an antiviral and he was better in like 2 days. Now I've got it. I don't feel that bad, like I have a bad cold. I'm playing phone tag with the doctor's office. The biggest issue has been keeping our daughter (who thankfully doesn't show any signs of having it) occupied while not being able to go anywhere or have anyone over.

I finished Full Count: The Education of a Pitcher for a book set in my favorite season- baseball season! Hehe, weatherwise, I prefer the change of seasons, so this is what I went with.

Currently reading Burnt Shadows and Pachinko on audiobook. Also, because I have a giant case of "ooh shiny" or book ADHD, I started Dear Justyce, The Likeness and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

QOTW: The only time this kind of happened to me was my mom's favorite book when she was a girl was Little Women and a coworker gave me a copy of Harriet the Spy. In both cases, I think I was just too old to love them as much as they had. I think I said so.

Hi! Happy Thursday!

I am going on my stay-cation tomorrow until the 15th so i'm pretty much going to be a house mouse and catch up on reading and being a slave for my mom. I will also downsize my books again. It will make me feel better.

So my phone line is now fixed. We disconnected it so it wasn't on the system after the second visit from the sheriff. The repair man told mom that all the wiring needed to be changed.

Finished:

Fushigi Yûgi: VizBig Edition, Vol. 5
Fushigi Yûgi: VizBig Edition, Vol. 6
The Royal Tutor, Vol. 9
Ceres: Celestial Legend, Vol. 9: Progenitor
Steins;gate: The Complete Manga

Reading:

Heart of the Sun Warrior
Inuyasha. VizBig Edition, Volume 3: New Allies, New Enemies
Steins; Gate 0 Omnibus Volume 1

This week, I finished:
Signal to Noise - 3.5 stars, for the set in the 1980s prompt. I thought the teenage characters made the kind of mistakes that teenagers make, and that felt very real to me. They were not always likable people, but I was still invested in them.

I am currently at 46/50 for Popsugar (37/40 and 9/10).

Comics & manga:
Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3
Heartstopper: Volume Two
Dragon Age: The First Five Graphic Novels
Heartstopper: Volume Three
Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 20
How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 6
Honey Hunt, Vol. 1
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 1

Currently reading:
Never Say You Can't Survive: How to Get Through Hard Times by Making Up Stories - not for a prompt. Really enjoying this so far - it's a great collection of essays on fiction writing and being creative even when life is difficult. I'm taking my time with the book and only reading one or two essays at a time, giving them a chance to stew in my brain and hopefully spark some writing mojo.

The Bear and the Nightingale - a reread for the prompt of a book that takes place during your favorite season (winter). I'm planning to read the rest of the series to fill other prompts.

QOTW: I mostly agree with what others have said on the thread. When someone recommends their favorite book and it sounds like something I wouldn't really be into, I just politely say, maybe I'll check it out, and usually never do. If I do read on someone's recommendation and don't like it, I just tell the person that it was okay but not really my cup of tea.

Hello! Our grandson (Elijah - almost 5) and daughter-in-law (Ashley) have come to visit, so the house is much, much busier than usual. Seth (29-year-old son with autism) had a tough transition the first night they were here, but he seems to have adjusted, and he's been enjoying Elijah's antics.

I was just accepted into a book club (Reasonable Doubt: A Secular Book Club) that meets in my area. They're meeting on Sunday, so I'm trying to read, read, read. I'd really like to go... and participate.

Challenge Progress: 35/50

Commpleted:

Island Time: Really disappointing. I've enjoyed other novels by Georgia Clark, but this time I really didn't care about the (immature/entitled) characters at all. I'm not even sure who the main characters were... There were nine POVs! ★★

Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe: Utterly engaging and informative account of the Love Canal contamination by Hooker Chemical in the late 1970s. (PS31: a book featuring a man-made disaster) ★★★★★

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina: I know there's been a lot of love for this book out there, but I just didn't feel it. ★★★

Native Tongue: This was given to me in a Christmas exchange last year. I never would have picked it up on my own based on the cover. But I'm glad I read it. While certainly flawed, Native Tongue is a fascinating exploration of gender, language, and power. First released in 1984 it predates the publication The Handmaid's Tale by two years, but it explores many of the same themes although it's much more sci-fi in nature. ★★★★



Currently Reading:
Upgrade
The Tattooed Girl (PS36: a book you know nothing about - ordered from Etsy as a "mystery book")
The House Across the Lake (PS19: a book that takes place during your favorite season - Fall)
A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution - This is for my new book club
How to Be a Wallflower
Thank You For Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission
The Girl in His Shadow

QOTW: I can't remember the last time someone actually loaned me a book. Usually it's just a recommendation, and most of the time I can find something complimentary to say about the book.

Jen wrote: "When someone recommends their favorite book and it sounds like something I wouldn't really be into, I just politely say, maybe I'll check it out, and usually never do."

The classic "I'll add it to my TBR...and then never get around to it" strategy... Actually, I think that would be a great response for all of us. :D

Ah yes, I'll just add that to the list of 700 books I have to read that only ever increases in number!

Chrissi wrote: Currently reading A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes for no reason other than I'm interested in the history of natural disasters and such.

That's great. This one has been on my TBR forever. Just don't know when I'll get around to reading it. Really want to though.

*****

Nadine in NY wrote:

LOL no that doesn’t sound like it would be fun, but your description sounds great so I added it to me TBR

LOL, depends on your definition of fun. It certainly had a lot of great elements to it. I was more impressed than I thought I would be but that's because I rock collect so it made it even more enjoyable.

*****

Ashley Marie wrote:

I loved this when I read it a few years ago! I listened to the audiobook, which I found quite enjoyable. Have fun, Ron!

Thanks. So far even though I'm barely on page 43 I am already enjoying it. Out of every movie franchise out there, JP is my all-time favorite so it's kind of a shame I've never gotten around to reading the book. LOL, I'm annotating it as proof that I do read it.

Hello. My husband got Lasik surgery last Friday, and spent the weekend recovering. He still keeps trying to take his glasses off at bedtime, which is funny to me. The eyedrops every hour are frustrating him, but I think he's glad he had it done. We're thinking I'll get it done next year (after a few appliances are paid off.)

The Hugo deadline is in one week, and I have so not finished all of my planned reading for it. I imagine this weekend will be full of science fiction and fantasy nominees.

Finished This Week:
Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard. Hugo nominee for Best Novella. At around 100 pages (my copy was 99, GR says it's 103), this was an extremely quick read. Story about a princess who is sent to a foreign court at a young age, now back in her mother's court and negotiating for her country. Against the princess of the foreign court who she had a relationship with while she was there. While trying to hide that she's been starting fires and may have set the foreign court's palace ablaze. Using for PS #4, tiger in the title.

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. Someone on the PBS NewsHour was talking about China's space program and mentioned orbital mechanics. My brain immediately went to the lady astronaut classes in this book. And then I had to reread the whole book. There's a lot more of it before the astronaut classes than I remembered. The orbital mechanics scene is extremely late. Reread, not for prompt.

The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel. Reading the bibliography and author's note from The Calculating Stars, I was reminded I had this book specifically because it is cited by the other. And so I picked it up to read it. Not being well-versed in the physics of astronomy, a lot of the discoveries the women made were not readily apparent to my modern brain what they would lead to. I thought they were unnaturally obsessed with the stars that changed their brightness regularly (rather than getting dimmer over time, these reached max brightness every 8 weeks or 72 hours or some other set schedule they could track). Turns out those stars helped them figure out how far away everything was, and how big the galaxy and universe are. I was also happy to learn about Cecila Payne, after reading What Stars Are Made of last year. Using for PS #34, Set in Victorian Times, as it starts in 1892.

Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher. Another Hugo nominee. First book in the Clocktaur Wars duology, but also the first overall in the World of the White Rat series, which is nominated for Best Series. A forger, an assassin and a paladin who was possessed by a demon (it's dead now) have to go stop a war when everyone else has failed. This book covers gathering the group (they also get a scholar who hasn't talked to a woman in, like, forever) and heading for the city who's sending the unkillable soldiers. Using for PS #36, A Book You Know Nothing About, because honestly, once I figured out what the first book in the series was, I requested it.

The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher. Second book in the Clocktaur Wars duology, ending this narrative arc. It shows what happens once they arrived at the city sending the soldiers. Not my favorite from T. Kingfisher, as the bread wizard was so much better. Not sure I'll be able to read the rest of the series before the Hugo deadline.

PS: 40/50 RH: 10/24 ATY: 45/52 GR: 110/100

Currently Reading:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Hugo nominee for Best Novel. I bought this when it came out, and I've had multiple friends recommend it (including one who is a librarian). Finally reading it. Still fairly early - he's only just discovered his name.

Stormsong by C.L. Polk. Second book in the Kingston Cycle, nominated for the Hugo for Best Series. This keeps getting pushed to the side. I realized I don't quite remember all the details of the end of the prior book, and they haven't recapped yet (if they even will) in the beginning of this one, just a lot of yelling about how bad it was, and that's putting me off. My library has a waiting list to get the book back, and I contemplated going to a nearby county's library who had the book on the shelf to reread the ending. But then I didn't. May still.

Up Next:
Optimistic Hugo List (in order of likelihood):
A Desolation Called Peace (Best Novel)
Iron Widow (Best YA & Best New Writer)
Winter's Orbit (Best New Writer)
Lore Olympus: Volume One (Best Graphic Story)
Soulstar (Best Series)
True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee (Best Related Work)
A Snake Falls to Earth (Best YA Novel)

QotW: Have you ever had a “favorite book” highly recommended to you by a friend/acquaintance and your reaction to it was very negative? How did you handle the discussion with that person?
Not necessarily specific to books, but this is something I've struggled to learn how to respond since my senior year of college. If I don't like something that someone else loves, and they ask my opinion on it, I try to highlight the parts that didn't work for me, and ask what about it they enjoyed to see if there's any common ground. My stance for these situations is a line I learned from other communities online: "Don't Yuck Someone Else's Yum." Just because you didn't like it doesn't make it bad; it just means it wasn't for you. It doesn't negate their enjoyment of it.

Dubhease wrote: " I'm in a writer's group and one year, two people insisted I read books. The first was a book a friend had published...."




Oh that reminded me - one time a friend had a short story published in a vampire anthology and I read it and it just wasn’t very good. I decided to just not rate that book in GR at all.

Kenya wrote: "So I start school in a couple weeks... and I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit nervous. Wish me luck, folks, haven't been to college before ..."



Good luck in school!!! That’s exciting AND terrifying.



I had a friend recommend the Dresden Files books to me, and I finally gave in and read the first in the series, Storm Front. It wasn't terrible, just underwhelming. I told him so, and he assured me "it gets better four or five books in.

Several people said that to me when I said I didn’t like the first book. My thoughts: maybe it gets better, maybe it doesn’t, but I really hated the first book and I’m not slogging through four more like that when I’ve got so many other books I want to read.

Harmke wrote: "I finished my second and last project this year: migrating our municipality’s website to a new content management system platform (for geeks: Drupal 7 to Drupal 9)!! I got my job because of this pr..."


Congratulations on finishing that! What good timing, now you can REALLY relax.

Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Kind of a crap week here. My boyfriend tested positive for covid last weekend, but we quickly got him on an antiviral and he was better in like 2 days. Now I've got it. I don't feel that ba..."

Aw geez... I hope you recover soon.

Mandy wrote: "Hi! Happy Thursday!

I am going on my stay-cation tomorrow until the 15th so i'm pretty much going to be a house mouse and catch up on reading and being a slave for my mom. I will also downsize my ..."

Have fun on your stay-cation!

Kenya wrote: "Mandy wrote: "Hi! Happy Thursday!

I am going on my stay-cation tomorrow until the 15th so i'm pretty much going to be a house mouse and catch up on reading and being a slave for my mom. I will als..."

thanks! I hope i can get a lot of reading done and some binge watching too.

Melissa wrote: "
Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher. Another Hugo nominee. First book in the Clocktaur Wars duology, but also the first overall in the World of the White Rat series, which is nominated for Best Series..."



I haven’t read a duology yet and I’m thinking about using this one. Was it good? I checked and I can borrow the ebooks from Brooklyn.

Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Kind of a crap week here. My boyfriend tested positive for covid last weekend, but we quickly got him on an antiviral and he was better in like 2 days. Now I've got it. I don't feel that ba..."



Ack! Get well soon!! Are you at higher risk because of your transplant ?

Chrissi wrote: "I'm posting this before my flight home to Switzerland today! It was a great summer, mostly relaxing, reading a lot of books (got 21 read in the last 5 weeks), and seeing family. We start back to sc..."

Have a safe trip!!

Kenya wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Kind of a crap week here. My boyfriend tested positive for covid last weekend, but we quickly got him on an antiviral and he was better in like 2 days. Now I've got it. I..."

Thank you. We both had it at the beginning of the year, and so far, the 2nd time around has been SO much better.

Good luck at school! Where are you going, if you don't mind me asking?

Happy Thursday from the hot hot hot Jersey Shore! I am so hot! I feel like I’ve been a sweaty mess since I got here. My mother is at that age where she’s always cold now, so the a/c setting is not nearly low enough to cool me down. Even dog walks before dawn leave me a sweaty mess.


It’s been so hot, we’ve only been to the beach once, because I just can’t face the long hot walk to get to the beach. But tomorrow we will go again! (And I’m bringing my “historical shark attacks on LBI” book with me to read on the beach - Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 - these attacks happened just a few miles away, but over 100 years ago, of course)


This week I only finished one book, but it was (at least) for this Challenge, so I am now 39/50, I think.



Bonecrack by Dick Francis - this was my second try at an onomatopoeia book, and it was decent, but not one of Francis’s better books.



QOTW


It’s always a mistake when someone tries to recommend a book to me, because I have so many books on my list to read, I will never ever get around to reading whatever they recommended!

I’ve tried the “oh yeah I’ll add that to my TBR” method, but some people just MUST have me read the book - three times now a friend has - unprovoked, unsolicited - pressed a book into my hands and urged me to read it. I never read one of them. I still have two of those books. I am the black hole of books. I need to return them. One friend moved away to North Dakota so I guess I’ll never return hers!


I think the only people in my real life whose book opinions I really value are my daughters, and they are not quite in a position to be recommending books to me, since in most cases I’ve already read the books they are reading and I recommended it to them! There are exceptions. They both loved the Amulet series, and I STILL haven’t read that. Lily is currently reading Conversations with Friends - she only just started, but she’ll obviously finish it before I ever get to it, and it seems she will probably recommend it. And Neve has a pile of manga that she’s probably going to read before I do - maybe she will recommend some to me when she’s done.

Jennifer W wrote: "Kenya wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Kind of a crap week here. My boyfriend tested positive for covid last weekend, but we quickly got him on an antiviral and he was better in like 2 days. Now ..."

College of Western Idaho -- it's a community college, but still decent. Going for a degree in English with a focus on creative writing.

Challenge progress: PS 28/50

Finished:

The Lost Apothecary (PS book with a recipe) 4 stars. I really liked this book. It's hard to write a book with a past and present story line without shortchanging one or the other. I would say I was equally invested in both.

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 1 (No prompt) 4 stars. Older widower who adopts a older cat usually passed up for adoption. It was a very sweet manga.

The Candy House (PS book released in 2022) 2 stars. This book was not for me. I really liked the concept but I did not care for the execution. It was very hard to keep track of who the characters were and how they were related to each other. If I had not read the summary, I would not have been able to tell what this book was about until pretty far into it.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (PS Sapphic book) 5 stars. First book I ever read of Taylor Jenkins Reid and I can see why it had such a long wait list at the library. I loved it and will definitely be checking out her other books.

Passing (PS person leading a double life) 4 stars. At first I was a little disappointed that we never get Clare's perspective of events but I think that made the ending much more powerful.

Coming up:

The Song of Achilles (PS a #BookTok book)

The Space Between Worlds (PS a book with a parallel reality)

QOTW: The only big reader in my life is my best friend of about 20 years. After that long in a friendship, we know each other well enough to give our honest opinions about books and not be offended we didn't like the same things.

Happy Thursday! Melting in NYC heat and humidity continues. I hibernate a lot.

I still have 8 books left in challenge.

Finished:

Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood - very scholarly so not for everyone. I did like it but also best read a bit at a time.
High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver - loved this. Published in 1995, essays reflect her maturing as a young woman and a writer. Also has some great essays for the armchair travelers
Rogue Protocol and Exit Strategy - MURDERBOT! God I love these -- for my Feminerdy Book Club next weekend.
When Women Were Dragons - such promise and disappointing. Not bad but just could have been so much more. GREAT cover.

Currently Reading:
The Death of Mrs. Westaway - I am enjoying this so much! whizzing through it.
An Artist of the Floating World - really enjoying this.

QOTW: Diplomatically. As a lawyer, I'm used to having to deliver negative reaction and news to people. I never pretend to like it but I don't generally diss it either, prefering to instead zero in on what was good about it and what I did enjoy. Then I switch it around and ask questions to find out why it was such a hit with my friend and get into a discussion. I generally find that most only want to talk about it pretty minimally or shallowly.

Most of the time when someone gives me a book to read, it's someone I discuss books with all the time and we are used to each other not necessarily liking a book recommended. We actually enjoy disagreeing. This happened recently with Normal People - I so disliked it yet several reading friends just raved about it and about all Sally Rooney's work. I am hesitant to ever read another of hers. We had a really good interesting discussion.

I think the key is to be respectful of their love of a book and be kind in how you express your own reaction.

I find the best discussions often result from 2 completely opposite reactions -- and we agree to disagree.

Nadine in NY wrote: "And I’m bringing my “historical shark attacks on LBI” book with me to read on the beach - Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 - these attacks happened just a few miles away, but over 100 years ago, of course ..."

Did you see they've discovered a shark that can walk on land? It looks like a dogfish, but I was thinking it would be some sort of natural justice if we messed up the seas so much the more dangerous ones start dragging themselves onto beaches for a snack.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Kind of a crap week here. My boyfriend tested positive for covid last weekend, but we quickly got him on an antiviral and he was better in like 2 days. Now I've got it. I..."

I missed your question yesterday. Yeah, I'm at greater risk. My immune system is shot. I'm playing an epic game of phone tag with the doctor's office. They left me a message that they might want me to get an infusion of antibodies to help me fight it. But now it's the weekend so.... ??

Ellie wrote: "I was thinking it would be some sort of natural justice if we messed up the seas so much the more dangerous ones start dragging themselves onto beaches for a snack.."


LOL!

Ellie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "And I’m bringing my “historical shark attacks on LBI” book with me to read on the beach - Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 - these attacks happened just a f..."

Haha no I did not see that! I just looked it up and OF COURSE it’s in Australia. It’s a cute little fish. They’ll need a lot more evolution before they can catch a human.

I've been productive this week; just not with reading. I have spent everyday this week working in my classroom. It has been back breaking (literally, my back hurts so bad right now) work trying to get everything back in order.

Finished:
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (13. Set in the 1980s). It was a slow start for me that ended well.

Started:
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Happy Is On Hiatus by A.C. Arthur
Bitter by Akweake Emezi
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Still reading:
Wounded by Laurell K. Hamilton Didn't take this on vacation with me so I didn't get it finished but will shortly.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Have you ever had a “favorite book” highly recommended to you by a friend/acquaintance and your reaction to it was very negative? How did you handle the discussion with that person?

I haven't really had any books that have been recommended to me that I had a negative reaction to. I have had some That I just am not that into. One in particular is The Night Circus. I think that this book is beautifully written but I just could not get into. I did not finish it. I have placed it in the "not the right time" box in my mind. I intend to give it another try. I just can't right now. I intended to read it for this challenge but just could not bring myself to pick it up.

Happy August! A two week check-in here because of holidays and an inability to read. (Summer is distracting) I've had such good times with friends and family and now everyone seems to being testing positive for covid. So far it looks like having it recently is keeping me from being infected again.

Finished Reading:

⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love this series so an anthology following the various characters through the ages was great. I really prefer to have the same artists in comics so I can figure out the characters immediately.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
A spin-off series/prequel to following my favourite character, yes please!

⭐⭐ (2015 a play)
I randomly discovered that Mindy Kaling had wrote a play early on about Matt Damon and Ben Affleck creating Good Will Hunting. It was short and accomplished a prompt but I think this really needed to be acted out to find it enjoyable.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
This might be my favourite of the series. It's all set in the early 2000s and nobody is in high school anymore, they're trying to make it as adults that don't kill for hire. I probably enjoyed this one the most because it's happier than others.

PS 2022 45/50
PS 2015 43/50
Goodreads 177/250

Currently Reading:

The Dog Stars
Master of Iron
Glass Beads

QOTW:
This happens a lot with my sister and my mom, but it's mutual.
Although last month this person at the library was asking me if I had read Watchmen and I was only able to say yes because I Hated the book. So much so that Eleanor & Park has the two characters both love Watchmen and it made me hate them more.