Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Happy happy THURSDAY and POPSUGAR CHECK-IN! :)

The sun is shining so brightly this morning! It’s only 73°F but so BRIGHT! That always makes me automatically more cheerful!

I discovered what seemed to me to be an exceptionally interesting listing of books here: https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.... The Women’s Prize is coordinating a new competition to celebrate 100 years of Good Housekeeping. They have launched a “Women’s Prize x Good Housekeeping Futures Award.” Each author must be female and under the age of 35. A panel of judges composed this list of 10 finalists for the Futures Award and I had only one of these books on my TBR listing, but now have all but 2 included! The majority of these sounded like amazing reads to me! Thought some of you may be interested!

ADMIN STUFF:
It’s a poll! LOL ;) The nomination poll for our 2022 December Monthly Group Read is HERE! This will satisfy prompt #1 A book published in 2022! I would normally add that before you nominate a book, PLEASE do NOT forget to check the listing of those books that CANNOT be considered/nominated for the December 2022 group read HERE! But, as Nadine mentions in the poll posting, we haven’t had a book published in 2022 as a monthly group read this year, so we should be good to go!

The August Monthly Group Read discussion of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller which can be found HERE! Erica is the "marvelous manager" leading. The August "I Finished!" thread is HERE! This book 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 was expected to peak August 11-12 this year.

We currently have THREE 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
3) November: an “official organizer” to lead the discussion of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Please message either Nadine or myself to volunteer!

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

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
List one of your absolute favorite reading prompts of all time and the book you read to fulfill it. (This could be from any reading challenge, not just POPSUGAR!)

Interestingly, I have discovered that in the aftermath of challenges my favorite prompts are those for which I discovered totally unexpectedly exceptional-to-me books! That is the case for this answer…
Prompt #10 from the 2021 Read Harder Challenge: Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color

Although when I first read this prompt I thought “What?!?” I doubted there were many books available to fulfill the prompt… And although there were not a ton, I did read A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology edited by Dhonielle Clayton which was an outstanding compilation of SFF short stories! I ended up with many books authored by these same writers on my TBR and now in my “I own it!” piles!

Tracking the ATY process for 2023 prompts got me thinking about this and trying to create some of my own prompts!

Though I am STILL not quite caught up with documenting books, (I have made some progress!) my challenge totals are:
Popsugar: 43/50
ATY: 50/52
RHC: 17/24

FINISHED:
A SPECTACULAR READING WEEK FOR ME!
*Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia Butler (5 STARS) was an amazingly scary and yet thought-provoking read for me. This book epitomizes “found family,” IMO. I appreciate the spiritual foundation for Earthseed—God is change. (I would personally delete any reference to a deity, but that’s just me.) Change is performed by people and as a result people change. (Yes, I’m definitely paraphrasing.) Though there was brutality sprinkled throughout, unfortunately, I could see the US becoming just this backward and uncivilized. Though as an eternal optimist, I trust there will be a critical mass of humans who will finally motivate positive change in our world. I have ordered a copy of the sequel Parable of the Talents to read and venture to say I will try more of Butler’s books in the future. I was impressed!
POPSUGAR: #9, #25, #31-Climate Change, #36, NEW #39, #40-2019: prompt #43 An “own voices” book, #44/#45, #46
ATY: #4--A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): …passion…despair…decay…, #7, #16, #24, #29, #31-1993, #34, #35, #36, #37, #40-The Lovers, Strength, Justice, Death, Temperance, Judgment, The World, #41, #43, #44, #49
RHC: NEW #8, #13, #24-2021: Read a book you’ve been intimidated to read

*Chirp by Kate Messner (5 STARS) was so very much more than I expected! It tackled several very important issues and did it very well: climate change/food sources, sexual harassment, family changes, small business entrepreneurship. The characters felt realistically portrayed. Highly recommended, especially for younger females! Thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening!
POPSUGAR: NEW #7, #19, #24, #25, #28-during summer break from school, #36, #38, #40-2017: prompt #51 A book about a difficult topic
ATY: #1-Anna, #4-A book whose cover depicts your favorite kind of weather, #7, #14-2,148 ratings, #16, #21-a dog, #34, #36-Crickets=Protein, #40-Strength, Justice, Judgment, The World, #41, #49, #50
RHC: #24-2016: Read a middle-grade novel

The Locked Room Mystery mystery (Nursery Crime #2.5) by Jasper Fforde (5 STARS) was a hilarious short story published in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
Not using for any challenges. Just curious about Fforde’s writing which I found to be enjoyable to read.

*A Study in Honor (The Janet Watson Chronicles #1) by Claire O'Dell (5 STARS) was a great read! Anxious to read the second installment. Also anxious to see what others in the book club thought!
POPSUGAR: #9, #25, #31-War, #40-2015: prompt #41 A book written by an author you’ve never read before, #44/#45
ATY: #4- A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): …lifeless things…hand that mocked them…, #7, #13-Janet is a surgeon, #14-1.408 ratings, #19, #40-Strength, Death, Judgment, The World, #44, #49
RHC: NEW #21-Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson, #24-2020: prompt #21 A book with a main character or protagonist with a disability

* One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (5 STARS) was an excellent read for me. Not only did I experience Italy via Serle’s vivid depiction, but this was a story I could relate to in so many ways. An oppressive overbearing mother and the aftermath of her death while only in her early 60s. The difference between Katy and myself is that I refused to allow my mother to rule my life as an adult. I also had the influence of my grandmother’s constant presence in my life to help offset my mother’s obsessive behaviors. But poor Katy had to totally remake her life… I even shed a few tears…
POPSUGAR: #1, #19, #25, #27-Holiday=Vacation, #36, #40-2016: prompt #25 A book that takes during the summer, #42
ATY: #1-Adam, #4-A book whose author is younger than you, #7, #15, #22-Katy and Carol, #29, #30, #37, #40-The Lovers, Strength, Death, Judgment, The World, #41, #42, #43, #51
RHC: #24-2020: prompt #10 A book that takes place in a rural setting

*Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris (Mrs. ‘Arris #1) by Paul Gallico (5 STARS) was absolutely charming and not nearly as “Pollyannaish” as I feared it might be! First released in 1958, it was straightforward and succinctly told! Anxious to read the second installment in the series. It will be a nice and enjoyable bit to rotate among some heavier reads! In the end, people matter much more than a brand-new designer dress!
POPSUGAR: #9, #22, #24, #25, #28-Holiday = Vacation, #40-2015: prompt #3 A book that became a movie, #42, #46, #49/#50-Paris, France
ATY: #1-Ada Harris, #4-A book written by an author you might like to meet, #7, #11, #14-2,862 ratings, #25-157 pages, #27/#28-Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to, #31-1958, #35, #40-Strength, Judgment, The World, #41, #50
RHC: #11, #24-2020: prompt #7 A historical fiction novel not set in WW II

CONTINUING:
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
*Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is nothing like what I expected. I consider it a glimpse into everyday life.
*The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed continues with a closer look at Jefferson’s actual life with the Hemingses once he has them at Monticello. He did separate some of the children for a few years, but then reunited the family at Monticello once it was finished enough to do so. Just the building of Monticello was quite an undertaking. First, enough dirt and rock had to be removed to “shave the top off the mountain” before digging foundations and basements for building construction could even begin! And then the well. That required 46 days to excavate 65 feet of mountain rock they hit water—almost twice the depth of a ‘normal’ well in Virginia at the time. As you might guess, in the 1770s there was no machinery to aid in these tasks—slaves had to do it all manually. Quite a thorough discussion of slave women: working in the fields vs working in the household. None of the Hemings women worked in the fields. This would be considered highly irregular among African cultures where fieldwork was mainly the responsibility of females. However, in the US black females were NOT typically treated more like white females, but that is exactly how the Hemings females were treated at Monticello! TJ kept Hemings males working closest to him as Butler, manservant, etc. It is rather assumed from what little evidence is available (and some DNA testing of descendants in the 1990s), that some of the Hemings women fathered children with white workers/craftsmen who were hired to help oversee the building of Monticello. So, to my mind, they were to serve as “entertainment” for the white males… Ugh.

PLANNED:
August Buddy/Group Reads: (only 4 more to go!)
*Last Call at the Nightingale (Nightingale Mysteries #1) by Katharine Schellman
*The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
*Alex Cross's Trial (Alex Cross #15) 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

Happy Thursday, everyone!

It has been a very busy week! I am currently house hunting, and trying to get all of the excess junk out of my condo before my upcoming move. I’ve done a decent amount of work this week, but there is so much left to do!

My current project is cleaning out the storage closet. I’m currently about three-quarters of the way through my clean out, which means that the storage closet looks great, but my bedroom is an absolute disaster. I’ve managed to get rid of a ton of junk though, which is awesome. I’m hoping to finish today and move on to my bedroom and office closets tomorrow.

Despite how busy I’ve been, I did manage to do quite a bit of reading this week! My biggest accomplishment for the week was definitely finishing the Fairy Tail manga, but I was also finally able to catch up on my ongoing manga series.

I never got around to starting a new novel this week (too focused on my manga collection, I suppose), but I did have the chance to finish reading a couple of really interesting nonfiction titles.

Goodreads: 426/200
TBR Checklist: 369/1058

Finished Reading (Fiction):
None

Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
~Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy
~The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock

Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
~Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete Collection
~Rocket Raccoon, Volume 1: A Chasing Tale
~Rocket Raccoon, Volume 2: Storytailer
~Rocket Raccoon and Groot Vol. 1: Tricks of the Trade
~Rocket Raccoon and Groot Vol. 2: Civil War II
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 47
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 48
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 49
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 50
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 51
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 52
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 53
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 54
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 55
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 56
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 57
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 58
~Fairy Tail Vol. 59
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 60
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 61
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 62
~Fairy Tail, Vol. 63
~Yurara, Vol. 1
~Yurara, Vol. 2
~Yurara, Vol. 3
~Yurara, Vol. 4
~Yurara, Vol. 5
~Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 6
~That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 19
~The Savior's Book Cafe Story in Another World, Vol. 3
~Yakuza Lover, Vol. 5
~Rasetsu, Vol. 1
~Rasetsu, Vol. 2
~Rasetsu, Vol. 3
~Rasetsu, Vol. 4
~Rasetsu, Vol. 5
~Rasetsu, Vol. 6
~Rasetsu, Vol. 7
~Rasetsu, Vol. 8
~Rasetsu, Vol. 9

DNFed:
None

Currently Reading:
~The Big Book of Serial Killers
~The Hobbit Trilogy Location Guide Book
~Decorating a Room of One's Own: Conversations on Interior Design with Miss Havisham, Jane Eyre, Victor Frankenstein, Elizabeth Bennet, Ishmael, and Other Literary Notables
~Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition, Vol. 1

QOTW:
I don’t know that I have an absolute favorite reading prompt, but I did really enjoy how last year’s POPSUGAR advanced prompts were all related to our TBRs. I really liked that I didn’t have to borrow or buy something new to complete those prompts.

Lynn wrote: "Happy happy THURSDAY and POPSUGAR CHECK-IN! :)

The sun is shining so brightly this morning! It’s only 73°F but so BRIGHT! That always makes me automatically more cheerful!

I discovered what seem..."




I have been naive all this time, because it never occurred to me that slaves built our Presidents' homes in the South. I always just pictured the slaves working in the fields or doing domestic work like laundry or cooking, or nannying, or maybe clearing land for roads. I never pictured them building houses and digging wells. And I definitely never considered that they built Monticello.

Happy Thursday.

I feel behind in my reading because of having Covid on vacation. I am still reading one of the books I thought I'd be done by now. But, Goodreads is saying that I'm 2 books ahead, so I guess it's just perception.

Finished:

The Halloween Tree
ATY prompt: 2 books related to flora and fauna
Popsugar prompt: A book set during a holiday
(summer prompt: A book that takes place in more than one era of time)

Identity Matters: Discovering Who You Are in Christ
ATY prompt: A book with an image of a source of light on the cover
Popsugar prompt: can't find one
(summer prompt: Author's initials are in THE FINAL COUNTDOWN)

ATY - 35/52
PS- 29/35
Series -10/13
Clearing my TBR list: 27/40

Currently reading:

The Summer Tree - about 60% done

Bunny - about 10% done

Reading with my kids:

At Home in Mitford - 19/24 chapters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 28/37 chapters

QOTW: So many to pick. Sometimes the prompt was great, but I picked a "meh" book, which wasn't the prompt's fault.

Over the years, PS and other groups have had cover colour prompts. I've discovered some great books because of that. PS had a mostly pink cover and I discovered Riley Sager and started reading his backlist. Lullabies for Little Criminals was a great discovery for a mostly green cover.

Urgh, I picked up a stomach bug somewhere. I guess now I don't travel on gross trains and use shared office toilets, my immune system has got lazy!

It finally rained. If course when I had a hospital appointment and had to walk in it. But it's cooled down lots now which is nice. Shame the water companies can't cope with too much rain and flushed all the sewage into the sea. If you visit Britain, don't venture in to the sea a day or two after heavy rain!

Finished:
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope for ATY (second of three continents). The author describes it as a fantasy heist novel set during the Harlem Renaissance. I liked learning that a lot of the characters were real people and I feel I understand this movement a bit better.

The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the Discovery of DNA's Double Helix by Howard Market for ATY (Jewish author). This was so dry and the audiobook narrator was also dry. It seemed like he'd just put all his research into book form, like I don't need to know about everyone's parents. I only gave it three stars since it does attempt to right the wrongs against Franklin.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa for ATY (fauna). Not my favourite Japanese cat book, felt it was edging into book snobbery at times.

Cackle by Rachel Harrison for onomatopoeia in the title. Liked the idea but the execution wasn't great.

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey for a book I know nothing about and this is why it's probably not a good idea to read books at random. More sex than plot and I didn't like the possessive alpha male in it.

QOTW:
I am not sure I can remember all the good ones, the terrible ones stay with me longer!

Happy Thursday again!!!   We've been having some cool weather here, and today started out with low clouds and high humidity.  It's still cloudy, but the sun is breaking through now and it's a pleasant late August day.  The crickets or cicadas or whatever they are outside are making an unholy racket that I'm sure is at least 75 decibels loud.   My yard is full of Queen Anne's lace, and the goldenrod is about to start blooming.

I'm back from the beach and sad about it, but also happy to be back home.  My mom does not have a fenced in yard (AND she lives one block from the bay) so I would walk my dogs to the park by the bay first thing every morning (even before my coffee!), and that's a habit that I really should work into my daily life, but ... have I?  No of course not!  But I have the BEST of intentions.  I'll take them for a walk again later today ... tomorrow ... this weekend.  I'll for sure be walking a lot tomorrow, because we move my daughter back into college tomorrow.



This week I finished 2 books, 1 for this Challenge, so I am now 40/50.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - this was amazing!  I have loved the last three books I read by Mandel, so I went in with HIGH expectations, and I was not disappointed!  I never say this, but:  her writing is just so beautiful!!  

Little Threats by Emily Schultz - this was my choice for "blurbed by a favorite author" - It was entertaining but not amazing (especially since I guessed the killer right away!).  I'm not sad that I read it, anyway.  I rarely have good luck when I have to pick a book recommended by a favorite author, so I'm please that this was at least a fun read. It's like the authors I love do not read books I love, so I'm pleased that I at least enjoyed the book.  Of course, she may have been contracted to blurb this and maybe she didn't actually love it at all - I don't know how those things work.  



QotW

Great question!  I've been doing this Challenge since 2015, so I do not have ONE simple answer.   Most of my favorites are from that first challenge, actually - I had never done a reading challenge before, and I guess the sheer thrill of it made everything feel more fun.

When the category is "your favorite past category" I always fall back on the 2015 category "read a graphic novel" because I love graphic novels and they don't always fit into any other category very well.   But that's not necessarily my favorite category!

Also, in 2015, I read AND LOVED two books that I never would have read otherwise:  Station Eleven (for "a number in the title") and Big Little Lies (for "antonyms in the title") so those two books were my most memorable challenge experience, but I also wouldn't say that those were my all-time favorite categories.  

I guess the category I liked best, that  managed to combine an eye-opening experience and a fun scavenger hunt and a good book, was in 2018: "read a sub-genre you've never heard of."  That was the year I learned that "cli-fi" was a subgenre!  (I read The Water Knife, or maybe The WindUp Girl, I don't really remember - I didn't LOVE love the book, but I learned about a sub-genre that I'd already been reading and enjoying.)   Of course, I don't particularly want to see that category again, because after researching it for the 2018 challenge, I doubt there are many sub-genres left that I have not heard of!!






I brought 18 books with me on my vacation, and I only read THREE of them, so I've got quite the backlog of library books staring at me right now. I wish I had time to read all of them!!!

Did anyone watch Buffy? You remember that scene from season 6 when Willow becomes Dark Willow, and she marches into the magic shop and grabs a bunch of magic texts and puts her hands on the pages and just ... absorbs all the words? I wish I could do that!!

I finished If Bread Could Rise to the Occasion as my book with cutlery on the cover. It was perfectly adequate for what it was, but nothing to write home about.

I'm now reading Ship of Fools as my book that takes place on train, plane, ship. A Little over halfway through. Took me a while to get into it and there are a lot of characters and I tend to forget who is who, but it's kind of interesting.

QOTW: Wow. You keep asking hard questions. I really liked the prompt a book that you see mentioned in another book. That was the first year I did the challenge and I liked the scavenger hunt quality. I ended up reading Catch-22 which I think I saw mentioned in Camino Island, and I didn't really like it, but still liked the prompt:)

I also love the prompts about places where you want to go. I love to travel, but not being a billionaire, and wanting to visit my parents at least once a year, don't get to do too much of it.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Did anyone watch Buffy? You remember that scene from season 6 when Willow becomes Dark Willow, and she marches into the magic shop and grabs a bunch of magic texts and puts her hands on the pages and just ... absorbs all the words?..."

I wonder if bring evil is part of the deal with that?

Nadine in NY wrote: "I would walk my dogs to the park by the bay first thing every morning (even before my coffee!), and that's a habit that I really should work into my daily life, but ... have I?.."

We started walking the dog first thing during lockdown and the habit has stuck. I make coffee before we go and put it in travel mugs. It's good to wake up a bit before work!

Whoohoo… 2 weeks no work!! I’ve already been to the city library and stuffed as many books in my bike bag as possible. I had to stop after 8 books. It’s way too much, but there’s no such thing as having too many books while on vacation.

Good news: I’m still covid-free! And the temps have cooled down a bit. We had a little bit of rain so it’s still dry-dry-dry: our grass is yellow, plants are hanging down and leafs are falling down already. Now we have humid air and I don’t know what’s worse… my feet and wrists hurt and my head feels heavy. At least in Switzerland (where we’re heading to this weekend) it’s about 20-23 degrees the next couple of days, so I would say that’s nice summer weather.

PS: 16/40
Total 2022: 37

Finished
The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End by Robert Gerwarth⭐⭐⭐⭐
Not for PS
Interesting, actual and easy read. World War 1 ended on November 11, 1918. But did it really end all war? No. Especially Eastern Europe was full of revolution, civil wars, pograms, ethnic wars and all other kinds of atrocities. In Western Europe it was more revolution, but it was not all peace and quiet there as well. Gerwarth takes you with him through this often overlooked part in history. But it is actually very important. Even now. Or maybe especially now. You can see the roots of Russian-Ukrainian fights, the Balkan war in the 1990’s, the unrest in the Middle East and even today's politics of Hungary and Turkey.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles⭐⭐⭐⭐
Not for PS
Loved the writing. And loved the Russian soul that sounds throughout the book. “We Russians as a people have proven to be unusually adept at destroying what we have created.” And “We are willing to destroy what we have created because we believe more than others in the power of the image, poem, prayer or person.” There’s some truth in that, I guess.

Currently reading
First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower

QOTW
A book with a made-up language - I read Watership Down. I didn’t expect anything, was even dreading to read it, but I sooooo loved this story!

Hi all,

I think i missed a couple weeks of check ins. Been having hectic weeks at work, vet visits, food poisoning, etc. Finally things have calmed down a little. And the septic guys just dropped off some big cubes and some equipment so the new field we've been trying to get put in since FEBRUARY is finally happening! I swear we are never using Angies list again. It's terrible, it did NOT make things easier, it just added a layer of confusion and delay and outright lies.

Anyhow, i have no idea where i left off in my check ins, so here's a selection of what i've been reading semi recently:

Sharks in the Time of Saviors- this was the august books & brew pick for my irl book club. It was just kinda meh for me. I don't know if it was just a mood reading thing, I wasn't really in a great mental state with cat worry and stuff. But it felt like i SHOULD have found it deep and meaningful, but I just kind of found it depressing and sad. It was probably the least we've ever talked about a book at book club, in part because the head librarian was about to leave for vacation the next day so was in total vacation mode. I don't think anyone super was into it though.

Activation Degradation - this was on a list of books for people who like Murderbot, and it didn't disappoint too much. I liked it quite a bit. Nothing is identical to Murderbot, but it did check a lot of the same boxes for me.

did a comics binge, so read several things:

Elvira Meets Vincent Price
Echolands, Vol. 1
Fear Case,
Fight Girls
Eve - would work for palindrome title, i thought it was pretty interesting post-apocolyptic with a cool eco sort of twist.

Chilling Effect - i liked this, had a very mass effect- portal sort of references, it was fun escapism.

Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies - this was cute, i'm not huge on cozies but i liked it.

Ariadne - i finally got this after waiting nearly a year after my libray's system messed up with notifications and i lost my hold after waiting 6 months for it and had to start completely over. I liked it, not quite as much as Madeline Miller, but it had a similar vibe.

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer - I was really excited for this, but it fell really flat for me. It felt like there was a whole volume of world building that got left out somewhere, and the reader was just left to guess a lot. I read a ton of speculative fiction and sci fi and fantasy, so it's not like I'm not used to it, and It's been a long time since i've felt that confused reading a book. I spent so long just being distracted by what they meant by "dirty" and "clean" and "computer' and what their whole memory currency system was based on, that I couldn't really focus on the story or care about the characters. It also seemed like for all that the stories were set nominally in the same world, that the rules seemed inconsistent across the stories as to what was dirty enough to be cleansed or not.

Currently reading:

The Goblin Emperor - someone here a while back reminded me that I meant to read this and i put a hold on it. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, although occasionally the politics get thick and make my eyes glaze over.

QOTW:

I"m not sure offhand. There are prompts that excite me more than others, but I can't really think of any particular one that stood out as THE best. There are great prompts overall that I ended up picking a dud for, and there are prompts that i think were dud prompts that I ended up reading a great book for. I don't think the fact that i read a good or bad book for a prompt necessarily means that that the prompt got worse or better because of what i chose for it. My favorites tend to be ones that I have lots of options for and I can really pore over what to pick and decide, my least favorites are the ones where i feel like i have to pick the best of a bad lot, even if i end up liking what i ended up with.

Ellie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Did anyone watch Buffy? You remember that scene from season 6 when Willow becomes Dark Willow, and she marches into the magic shop and grabs a bunch of magic texts and puts her..."



If I must be evil to get all my desired reading done, then evil I shall be!!! I promise not to flay anyone.

Happy Thursday! It's beautiful here too. I love the weather transitions between seasons! So calm and cool.

Finished 29/50

Dune for "Hugo award winner". It was really interesting! I liked the world concept and all the intrigue. I'm eager to see the movie now.

Currently Reading

At the Corner of East and Now: A Modern Life in Ancient Christian Orthodoxy for "book by an author you read in 2021". I love Frederica. I have a goal to read everything she's ever published!

QotW

Honestly, I love the "first book you see in a bookstore" prompt from Popsugar 2016. I always bring that one back for the "favourite past prompt" prompt. It's a great excuse to get a new book. :D

I'm doing another book fast from Aug. 1 to Halloween and getting rid of a book each day for half that time! Because of this, I've finally gotten to some books that have just been sitting on my shelf since I got them.

Finished: Literacy For Social Change A good introduction to the field, but I didn't really learn anything new. Would probably recommend Freire instead.

Theology for Skeptics Focused on feminist aspects. I wish it had been broader.

Justice: Rights and Wrongs

Decision: How the Supreme Court Decides Cases

Started:Plato Was Wrong!: Footnotes on Doing Philosophy with Young People Full of good ideas. I resisted reading this until I met the author and he was able to totally change the feel of a room by leading one of his exercises.

Qotw: My all-time favorite prompt is one that was in our local library's super summer challenge this year: Read a book about a social or cultural issue by a writer you do not agree with at all. I think this was really important because we get so siloed these days, especially in our use of social media. I re-read my least favorite book: Fountainhead. I didn't really even remember why I disliked it so much. In re-reading it, I found that every single character was completely selfish in different ways. I felt like it was effectively written, but I hated the message!

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

It has been a very busy week! I am currently house hunting, and trying to get all of the excess junk out of my condo before my upcoming move. I’ve done a decent amount of..."

Good luck with the move! Moving is a pain in the butt (just did it in November), but it's also a great way to downsize and get rid of clutter, heh... I hope the house hunt goes well.

Ellie wrote: "Urgh, I picked up a stomach bug somewhere. I guess now I don't travel on gross trains and use shared office toilets, my immune system has got lazy!

It finally rained. If course when I had a hospit..."

Ack! Hope you feel better soon!

Dubhease wrote: "Happy Thursday.

I feel behind in my reading because of having Covid on vacation. I am still reading one of the books I thought I'd be done by now. But, Goodreads is saying that I'm 2 books ahead,..."

How did you like Halloween Tree? Bradbury is one of my favorite authors but that felt like one of his slightly weaker reads to me.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy Thursday again!!!   We've been having some cool weather here, and today started out with low clouds and high humidity.  It's still cloudy, but the sun is breaking through now and it's a pleas..."

I LOVED Sea of Tranquility and Station Eleven! Is Glass Hotel worth the read? Haven't read that one yet...

Sheri wrote: "Hi all,

I think i missed a couple weeks of check ins. Been having hectic weeks at work, vet visits, food poisoning, etc. Finally things have calmed down a little. And the septic guys just dropped..."

I'm glad things have calmed down a bit... that sounds rather rough. Hope the next few weeks are smooth sailing for you.

Doni wrote: "My all-time favorite prompt is one that was in our local library's super summer challenge this year: Read a book about a social or cultural issue by a writer you do not agree with at all."

Oof! That's so hard to do. I did that last year for a different reading challenge. I can't believe I actually made it through Liberal Privilege: Joe Biden And The Democrats' Defense Of The Indefensible by Donald Trump Jr. Spoiler Alert: It didn't change my mind!

Hey everyone, we made it to another week!

Things have been pretty great around here. Cloudy mostly and we had rain all day yesterday. 81% chance of rain this weekend. So glad we're getting our storms now. I have not been able to stand the heat any longer. It's been a brutal summer with temps as high as 110(F) sometimes.

Can't really say I've done much reading as I really haven't. I've started a few but mainly just to get key points from them, highlighting the chapter titles and whatnot.

I've reached 52 books for the year which is more than what my goal was (it was 25 books for the year) so anything extra is just fun without needing or even wanting to compete with myself.

I'm sure though, my numbers will go up since I'll be starting school soon. I'm taking all literature classes: Forms of Lit., British Lit., and American Lit. I can't wait to see what books we'll be reading for those classes.

QOTW:
List one of your absolute favorite reading prompts of all time and the book you read to fulfill it. (This could be from any reading challenge, not just POPSUGAR!)

I had never really done any book challenges before. The only one I participated in last year was NonFiction November but I can't remember which books I read for that.

This was my first time doing the PopSugar one though and my favorite was the topic on 'party'. I took a different approach and went political.

For this one I read: Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change, from 1979 to the Present . This is certainly my favorite book, not just for the challenge, but for the year as well. I loved how linear the author was when it came to presenting the timeline of events. It was fun and sometimes infuriating, to see the different parties, Republican and Democrat, and how they each handle climate change differently.

*****

On another note, officially 1 month until Banned Books Week! It's a, I guess holiday-ish, event I always look forward to. For the past few years I go to the bookstore beforehand to pick up banned books so I can showcase them in my personal library.

Went to the bookstore today and picked these up which are on various banned book lists:

Girl, Interrupted - This has been on my want to read list since I want to say high school. Now seems like the perfect time to read it.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed- Discovered this one about a year or two ago when I was looking up random books on education. This one popped up. When I discovered that it was on the banned books lists it was an immediate no-brainer.

Hello. It's been cooler here this week, letting me open the windows more and not need to use the air-conditioning. Except then the humidity gets too high and my husband can't sleep, but the house is too cool for the AC to kick on. It's been frustrating to find a balance. It's raining right now, which we definitely need, but also means none of the windows are open and the AC is running.

Finished This Week:
Burn for Me / White Hot by Ilona Andrews. Hidden Legacy series reread to prep for Ruby Fever, which has a pub date of 8/23. Except the author let us know on Sunday that they were getting reports the books were on shelves already in physical stores. Apparently the publisher is doing a soft launch for it, probably because it's a year late, so there's no punishment if the stores put them out early. My local Barnes & Noble has them, but I've stopped myself from going there every day this week because I'm not ready to read it yet. I told a friend about it, but she preordered the audiobook, and that won't be out until the 23rd on schedule. Soft launches are very frustrating.

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan. Book club book for this month. It's about a manager at a Red Lobster in Connecticut who's been told they're closing his location, and this is the last day for his place. It starts with the manager driving into the parking lot, and ends with him driving away that night. Also very short, about 150 pages. I enjoyed it. Using for ATY #3, 22+ letters in the title.

PS: 40/50 RH: 11/24 ATY: 47/52 GR: 119/100

Currently Reading:
Wildfire. Last book in Nevada's trilogy for Hidden Legacy reread. I grabbed the audiobook from the library so I could listen while making dinner and driving around, but that puts me around halfway in audio, but at the final battle in paperback. I'll finish today if I stick to the paperback.

Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul by Charles King. I've only just started. Maybe page 3.

QotW: List one of your absolute favorite reading prompts of all time and the book you read to fulfill it.
I only started participating in reading challenges in June 2020 because of the pandemic lockdown, so I don't have a lot of years of prompts to work with. But my favorite one from that year was Read Harder's Graphic Memoir, something I'd never heard of. I read a couple of them since then, with The Complete Maus as probably my favorite. For PopSugar, I don't remember what year the prompt was from, but I loved the prompt for A Microhistory, which was a genre I'd read before but didn't realize had a name. My favorite I read in 2021, The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute, which was great.

Nadine in NY wrote: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - this was amazing! I have loved the last three books I read by Mandel, so I went in with HIGH expectations, and I was not disappointed! I never say this, but: her writing is just so beautiful!!

Gah, this has been on my TBR forever! I got it on release day but still have yet to read it and I so badly want to. Just kind of hard to do so especially when I have other books that I consider just as much as "high priority" as that one.

*****

Station Eleven was amazing!

Did you ever watch the HBO Max series? It was just as good. For once this is hard to compare which is better because both were so good. The show took it in a slightly different direction but in a way that totally made it work in a surprising way.

I missed last week's check-in. You'd think being retired would mean you have a lot of time on your hands, but I'm really not finding that to be true.

We celebrated Seth's 30th birthday last week. He may be 30, but his interests are still solidly childlike. He picked out some animated movies to download and stream on his tablet and was very pleased with his new "DC League of Superpets" plush animals. We only read one book this week, but we read it multiple times: Negative Cat. He loves it! For a young man who doesn't really like animals (I don't think he can predict their behavior), I find it interesting that his favorite books (and movies) tend to be about animals.

Challenge Progress: 39/50

Completed:
How to Be a Wallflower ★★★
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 (Book Club) ★★★★
The Girl in His Shadow (PS34: a book that takes place in Victorian times) ★★★★
Upgrade ★★★★
Easy Beauty ★★★★
Thank You For Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission ★★★★
Elsewhere ★★★
How to Argue With a Racist: What Our Genes Do (and Don't) Say About Human Difference ★★★★
The Tattooed Girl (PS36: a book you know nothing about - ordered from Etsy as a "mystery book") ★★



Currently Reading:
The Night Tiger (PS4: a book with a tiger on the cover or "tiger" in the title)
Birds of California
Nightbitch
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir (PS10: an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner)
Blood Sugar
Tracy Flick Can't Win
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

QOTW: I really enjoyed 2020's "a book with a pun in the title." I love puns and find myself looking for books that fit that prompt all the time.

Happy Thursday!

Bought a new computer last weekend... now gearing up to start school next week. It's all online, but hopefully doesn't kick my butt too much...

Also was quite relieved when the PopSugar Facebook group announced that the challenge is still on for 2023! I guess they realized that the challenge still has a lot of fans, hehe...

Books read this week:

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy -- I LOVE the Monk and Robot books! They’re cozy sci-fi, and feel like the novella equivalent of a warm cup of tea and a blanket. Becky Chambers is phenomenal.

Journey to the Center of the Earth -- if you can forgive a boatload of scientific inaccuracies and forget you ever saw any of the film adaptations, this is a decent classic read.

The Last House on Needless Street -- I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like this at first… but WOW! It took some twists I wasn’t expecting, and it turned out to be really good!

Unicorn Selfies -- comic collection. I love “Phoebe and Her Unicorn,” and though some of the gags are getting a little repetitive, I’m still having fun with these comics.

DNF:

The Big Over Easy -- starting to think Jasper Fforde just isn’t my bag…

Memoirs of a Bad Dog -- this seemed like it’d be a lighthearted read, but it was boring and even a little grim instead.

Currently Reading:

Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Ban This Book
Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park
Down from the Mountain: The Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear
Phoenix Extravagant

QOTW:

For whatever reason my favorite prompt of all time has been the "book mentioned in another book" prompt. It's just fun seeing a book lead me to reading another book, hehe...

Thank you for the great news, Kenya! Now I can say that I want to take a break from the challenge, but then still end up doing it when the list comes out because I can't resist a challenge.

Finished:
Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
Olga Dies Dreaming
A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Currently reading:
The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding
The Woman in the Library

QOTW:
I know a lot of people don't like genre prompts, but I love them, especially when they're new to me (I will bite my tongue the second there is a self-help book prompt). My favorites have been: microhistory, cyberpunk, dark academia.
I also love any that include hunts and/or spying on people: book you have seen someone reading in public, book on someone's book shelf, book mentioned in another book.

It's a beautiful day today! I wish had time to spend outside. Alas, just another work day.

Finished this week:

Honey and Venom: Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper: A bit disappointing, a premise I was really interested in but ultimately I just didn't get on with the author's writing style

Delicates: the follow up to Sheets so I can finally check off that duology

Unicorn Power!: I just love the world and characters of the lumberjanes so much; just so happy and fun

QOTW: I've been doing this since 2015, and I think that was the challenge that introduced me to graphic novels? I'm pretty sure the book I read for it was Nimona. So big hats off to that one.

Kenya wrote: "I LOVED Sea of Tranquility and Station Eleven! Is Glass Hotel worth the read? Haven't read that one yet... ..."


yes! It wasn't QUITE as awesome as SE & SoT, but it was still very good. I also loved The Singer's Gun. And that's all I've read by her so far. I still have her backlist to read.

Milena wrote: "Thank you for the great news, Kenya! Now I can say that I want to take a break from the challenge, but then still end up doing it when the list comes out because I can't resist a challenge.

Finish..."

Haha, I have a feeling I'll be the same way if I ever decide I want a break...

Kenya wrote: "How did you like Halloween Tree? Bradbury is one of my favorite authors but that felt like one of his slightly weaker reads to me...."

I gave it 3 stars. I liked the concept about visiting different cultures and seeing their fall/death customs. It was really a kids book and not the kind of book that Fahrenheit 451 or even Dandelion Wine were. I did like the twist ending because it seemed very Bradbury (like the kinds of stories in the Illustrated Man).

The Celtic one was wrong and that irked me. Samhain was not a god of the dead. It was just the beginning of winter and a time when the Celts (mostly Irish) viewed the world of the dead and the living as being particularly thin. Bradbury got it wrong and it seemed like sloppy research for him.

I guess this book proved (which I already knew from Dandelion Wine) that he wasn't just a science fiction writer.

Ron wrote: "Did you ever watch the HBO Max series? It was just as good. For once this is hard to compare which is better because both were so good. The show took it in a slightly different direction but in a way that totally made it work in a surprising way..."


No, I don't have HBO Max so I haven't see that show - I'm waiting for it to show up on DVD or Netflix or something. Good to hear that it's that good!!

I read SE back in 2015 so I don't remember a lot of the details.

Sea of Tranquility is SORT OF a sequel to Glass Hotel, because some of the characters show up again. I don't think you need to read Glass Hotel to enjoy SoT though, but it might be a little more meaningful if you do.

Hi everyone. The cray heatwave from last week has turned into crazy storms this week. My workplace flooded with rain water a few days ago but everything is fine now (luckily it was after I went home for the day so I didn't get stuck there).

This week I finished The Whitby Witches. I really enjoyed it when I first started the book but the ending seemed to drag out for a long time. I would probably read more by this author though.

I also finished Winter's Orbit which I adored. The two main characters utterly charmed me and I loved the world building. I figured out the bad guy pretty early on but it didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Currently reading: Once Upon a Broken Heart. I loved Caraval but I'm undecided on this one at the moment. Evangeline is not a character I'm particularly warming to.

QOTW: I am really amazed at everyone's memory. I had forgotten so many of these!

I had a quick look back at Pop Sugar through the years and I think my favourites are based on mythology, about a villain and also a musical/play. I don't remember which books I read for them (or if I even liked the books I read) but they're the prompts that jump out at me as ones I would do again.

Laura wrote: "We only read one book this week, but we read it multiple times: Negative Cat. He loves it! For a young man who doesn't really like animals (I don't think he can predict their behavior), I find it interesting that his favorite books (and movies) tend to be about animals....."


That book looks great! I added it to my TBR!

Happy Thursday!

Well, it's rained again. We've had more rain this summer than we've had in years. So it's hot and humid again. I definitely prefer the dry heat.

My vacation was lovely. Work is much better now. I still have a tremendous backlog of processing to do, but I'm feeling much less anxious about it.

I've been watching Viki instead of reading books. Yeah, I've become hooked on three Chinese dramas. One is called Love Like the Galaxy. It's about a young girl who was left behind as a baby by her parents when they went off to war. They took her twin brother and their older children. 15 years pass and her parents return. They find out she's been neglected by her grandmother and aunt. So her militant mom keeps trying to make a lady out of her. And there's a love square. Three guys like her. Love historical dramas.

The second is Love Between Fairy and Devil. It's a xianxia where a weak orchid immortal releases a cruel being that wants to take over all the realms. She and him end up switching bodies on a number of occasions. It's cool.

The third is also xianxia. It's called Immortal Samsara. The god of war and a lotus goddess fall in love despite being a law in heaven where it's forbidden. She ends up 'dying' and becoming a spirit on the Mortal Realm. The god of war was also sent down to do his trials as a mortal. Neither have memories of the other. They end up finding each other but he's a spirit hunter and she's a spirit.


Finished:

Lightning and Romance, Vol. 1
Lightning and Romance, Vol. 2
Heart of the Sun Warrior
My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! Manga, Vol. 1
My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! Manga, Vol. 2

Continuing:

Steins;Gate 0 Volume 1
Naruto (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 4: Includes Vols. 10, 11 & 12
The Beast Player
RG Veda Omnibus Volume 1
Inuyasha. VizBig Edition, Volume 4: Hard Choices

Planning:

Steins;Gate 0 Volume 2
Steins;Gate 0 Volume 3
Cemetery Boys
Naruto (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 5: Includes Vols. 13, 14 & 15
Inuyasha (VIZBIG Edition), Vol. 5: Dueling Emotions
The New Gate Volume 1

QOTW:

I think my favorite is just the graphic novel one. I own plenty of manga so it's easy to fulfill and it's enjoyable. I used it for number 40 (I believe) on this year's challenge. I used My Boyfriend in Orange, Vol. 11.

Kenya wrote: Bought a new computer last weekend... now gearing up to start school next week. It's all online, but hopefully doesn't kick my butt too much...

Does online work better for you or are you an in-person type of student? I ask because it's been fascinating learning people's learning styles over the years with the whole moving to online learning stuff.

Personally, because I suffer from severe anxiety, online classes work for me. I know I have to get used to being around people but I'll take whatever online classes I can take until that changes.

*****

Nadine wrote: No, I don't have HBO Max so I haven't see that show - I'm waiting for it to show up on DVD or Netflix or something. Good to hear that it's that good!!

I keep hoping for that too. It's too good of a show to the point where I want my own physical copy. Sometimes streaming doesn't cut it for me. And the music. OMG Dan Romer is a freakin' superhero when it comes to composing the music! If you have spotify you should at least check that out. Even if you haven't seen the show you could probably feel the emotion of it. And I'm sure the songs are on youtube or something too (that I haven't checked).

Mandy wrote: Well, it's rained again. We've had more rain this summer than we've had in years. So it's hot and humid again. I definitely prefer the dry heat

You're brave. With dry heat, I can't breathe. It feels like I suffocate or dry up. But then I overheat easily so the heat gets me pretty sick sometimes.

I'd rather take sticky humidity over the dryness.

I've been loving the rain we've been getting. Scientists are now saying you can't drink rain water so I'm trying not to lift my head and put the drops in my mouth. LOL! Still fun though. I love the rain which is why I savor it any chance I get.

Kenya wrote: "Also was quite relieved when the PopSugar Facebook group announced that the challenge is still on for 2023! I guess they realized that the challenge still has a lot of fans, hehe......"



Thanks for mentioning this because I had not seen it!!


For anyone who is not on FB, this is what Lisa Peterson posted:

Hi, Book Clubbers! Dropping in to answer a few q's I've seen bubbling up around the state of the group and our 2023 plans.
* Who's moderating the group these days? A mix of PS staffers are in here helping out! You can tag me with any q's or thoughts until we share who's taking over as our lead in here.
* What's going on with the 2023 challenge? I can confirm that we will absolutely be rolling out a 2023 challenge and soliciting this crew's help in crafting prompts! Theme is still TBD, but all ears if you want to drop ideas in the comments.
* Will prompt albums still exist in a centralized place? Yes! And if you have other ideas for how we can make tracking prompts easier, let me know.

Ron wrote: "Kenya wrote: Bought a new computer last weekend... now gearing up to start school next week. It's all online, but hopefully doesn't kick my butt too much...

Does online work better for you or are ..."

I haven't been at school since 2001... so this'll be a learning experience for me in every way. I'm hoping online will work better with my work schedule...

Mandy wrote: "The third is also xianxia. It's called Immortal Samsara. The god of war and a lotus goddess fall in love despite being a law in heaven where it's forbidden. She ends up 'dying' and becoming a spirit on the Mortal Realm. The god of war was also sent down to do his trials as a mortal. Neither have memories of the other. They end up finding each other but he's a spirit hunter and she's a spirit...."




That sounds awesome!! Now I just have to figure out what Viki is and if I can get it on my TV.

Ron wrote: "I'd rather take sticky humidity over the dryness. ..."



I'm the opposite!! I find a dry heat is much more comfortable than humidity! I grew up on the Eastern Seaboard and I live in NY, so I am used to humidity, but I don't like it. The few times I've been in the Nevada & Arizona desert and the brief period when I lived in California were wonderful!!

While I was in NJ for vacation, the kids and I went to a glass museum. (Because that area of NJ has a lot of sand - for glass - and a lot of pine trees - for fuel - it was a HUGE glass-making region in the early days of this country.) They had glass blowing demonstrations going on, and we were skeptical because it was so hot out mid 80s that day (so not THAT hot, but still hot, and so humid), but we went in the building, and sure enough it was over ten degrees hotter in there, in the high 90s F, but it was comfortable because the air was so dry from the ovens! Such a weird sensation.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Mandy wrote: "The third is also xianxia. It's called Immortal Samsara. The god of war and a lotus goddess fall in love despite being a law in heaven where it's forbidden. She ends up 'dying' and be..."

there's an app for that. it's a subscriber but there are free things as well w/ commercials.

https://www.viki.com/

Show listings from my post:
https://www.viki.com/tv/38723c-immort...
https://www.viki.com/tv/38664c-love-b...
https://www.viki.com/tv/38649c-love-l...

also recommend:
https://www.viki.com/tv/36567c-love-a...
https://www.viki.com/tv/36372c-eterna... (also on netflix. differences in subtitles)
https://www.viki.com/tv/35822c-three-... (sequel to eternal love)

Kenya wrote: I haven't been at school since 2001... so this'll be a learning experience for me in every way. I'm hoping online will work better with my work schedule...

Okay that's cool. Really hope it works out for you. It's a different experience for everyone. Some like it, others don't. I don't mind either way but at the same time I'm the type of learner who learns material better on my own.

*****

Nadine wrote: sure enough it was over ten degrees hotter in there, in the high 90s F, but it was comfortable because the air was so dry from the ovens! Such a weird sensation.

That is so interesting to me. I grew up in West Texas and even now I can't stand it. Because I overheat easily I get physically sick to the point I have to have snacks with salt and lots of Pedialyte to cool me off. Anything above 70(F) is too hot for me. I usually stay in airconditioned places as much as possible. Whenever I step outside in the heat it feels like the air is being sucked out of me.

*****

Nadine wrote: * What's going on with the 2023 challenge? I can confirm that we will absolutely be rolling out a 2023 challenge and soliciting this crew's help in crafting prompts! Theme is still TBD, but all ears if you want to drop ideas in the comments.
* Will prompt albums still exist in a centralized place? Yes! And if you have other ideas for how we can make tracking prompts easier, let me know.

Thanks for the info! Can't wait for 2023. I really had fun with this years challenge so I'm looking forward to next year.

Currently Reading:

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

This is for next month's book club meeting. At over 50% of the way through, this is mostly a fun, lighthearted read. Leaving the choice of whether Jamie is female, male, or nonbinary up to the reader is fine in theory, but in practice, it distracts from the story.

Question of the Week:

I like the prompts that feature settings that give readers lots of options. One of these is a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit.

For a change I was looking mid-morning to post my update (I'm in NYC) and the thread wasn't up yet! 🤣🤣 Now I'm back to my after NOON time slot and all is fine.

I'm just back from a few days on an island in Maine. We had perfect glorious weather, it was incredibly relaxing and we even saw a bald eagle from the deck (he kept us company in the pine tree while we lunched as he ate his own lunch (a fish he caught), plenty of other wildlife and a tall ship came sailing by! My friend calls it her corner of paradise and her happy place. It truly is.

PS - I only have 6 left!

Finished:
The Woman Left Behind - part 2 of my duology and nicely wrapped up the story arc.
Murder Off the Beaten Path
The Great Christmas Knit Off - this was wonderful! First in a series. I fell in love with Hettie's House of Haberdashery and the Knit & Natter group.

Currently reading:
Klara and the Sun

QOTW: Since I just fit whatever I happen to be reading into whatever prompts it fits, and I read from my massive TBR Towers, I don't really know how to answer this. It's not like a prompt per se led me to a particular book. I fit the book to a prompt, sometimes streeeeetching to the breaking point. Like that line in the movie The Firm where Tom Cruise says 'I just want to know how far to bend it (tax code).' Answer: up to breaking point.

Although, on thinking about it, last year's prompt for longest book in pages prompted me to read finally A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and I thoroughly loved reading this historical fiction set in India and really quite the soap opera! It made me happy on so many levels!

Brandon wrote: "Currently Reading:

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi"

when i read it, jamie 'felt' male to me. but that was my interpretation.

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

It has been a very busy week! I am currently house hunting, and trying to get all of the excess junk out of my condo before my upcoming move. I’ve done a decent amount of work this week, but there is so much left to do!

My current project is cleaning out the storage closet. I’m currently about three-quarters of the way through my clean out, which means that the storage closet looks great, but my bedroom is an absolute disaster. I’ve managed to get rid of a ton of junk though, which is awesome. I’m hoping to finish today and move on to my bedroom and office closets tomorrow.

Despite how busy I’ve been, I did manage to do quite a bit of reading this week! My biggest accomplishment for the week was definitely finishing the Fairy Tail manga, but I was also finally able to catch up on my ongoing manga series.

I never got around to starting a new novel this week (too focused on my manga collection, I suppose), but I did have the chance to finish reading a couple of really interesting nonfiction titles."
Sounds like a very productive week!

"Goodreads: 426/200
TBR Checklist: 369/1058"
Wow. Just wow. :)

"Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
~Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy
~The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock

Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):"
Sooooo many! :)

"QOTW:
I don’t know that I have an absolute favorite reading prompt, but I did really enjoy how last year’s POPSUGAR advanced prompts were all related to our TBRs. I really liked that I didn’t have to borrow or buy something new to complete those prompts."
Yeah, you're right! Those were some good prompts!

Nadine in NY wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Happy happy THURSDAY and POPSUGAR CHECK-IN! :)

The sun is shining so brightly this morning! It’s only 73°F but so BRIGHT! That always makes me automatically more cheerful!

I have been naive all this time, because it never occurred to me that slaves built our Presidents' homes in the South. I always just pictured the slaves working in the fields or doing domestic work like laundry or cooking, or nannying, or maybe clearing land for roads. I never pictured them building houses and digging wells. And I definitely never considered that they built Monticello."
Perhaps not all president's homes were built using slave labor, but when slavery was the way of the land, I guess it was the most logical alternative? The whole thing wreaks, IMO, but it was a different time...

Mandy wrote: "Brandon wrote: "Currently Reading:

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi"

when i read it, jamie 'felt' male to me. but that was my interpretation."

I decided to conceptualize Jamie as a muscular girl based on the banter/flirting with the KPS recruiter at the beginning and the constant references to lifting things.

Dubhease wrote: "Happy Thursday.

I feel behind in my reading because of having Covid on vacation. I am still reading one of the books I thought I'd be done by now. But, Goodreads is saying that I'm 2 books ahead, so I guess it's just perception."
I do that to myself as well. I expect to have something completed and then feel completely behind if it isn't...

"Finished:
The Halloween Tree"
Looks to "horrorish" for me...

"Currently reading:
The Summer Tree - about 60% done
Bunny - about 10% done
Reading with my kids:
At Home in Mitford - 19/24 chapters
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - 28/37 chapters"
Quite a varied list! :)

"QOTW: So many to pick. Sometimes the prompt was great, but I picked a "meh" book, which wasn't the prompt's fault.

Over the years, PS and other groups have had cover colour prompts. I've discovered some great books because of that. PS had a mostly pink cover and I discovered Riley Sager and started reading his backlist. Lullabies for Little Criminals was a great discovery for a mostly green cover."
That's so cool!

Mandy wrote: "Brandon wrote: "Currently Reading:

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi"

when i read it, jamie 'felt' male to me. but that was my interpretation."


Jamie felt "female" to me - so much so that I forgot their gender was not specified

Ellie wrote: "Urgh, I picked up a stomach bug somewhere. I guess now I don't travel on gross trains and use shared office toilets, my immune system has got lazy!"
Those are no fun! Hopefully you'll recover quickly!

"It finally rained. If course when I had a hospital appointment and had to walk in it. But it's cooled down lots now which is nice. Shame the water companies can't cope with too much rain and flushed all the sewage into the sea. If you visit Britain, don't venture in to the sea a day or two after heavy rain!"
Oh, my! I had no idea...

"Finished:
The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope for ATY (second of three continents). The author describes it as a fantasy heist novel set during the Harlem Renaissance. I liked learning that a lot of the characters were real people and I feel I understand this movement a bit better."
That's so cool! It's on my TBR listing and she wrote the Earthsinger Chronicles of which I need to read the second installment. (Hopefully in September) I am planning a Harlem Renaissance Challenge for myself in 2023. I already have at least 10 books sitting here to read for it!

"The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the Discovery of DNA's Double Helix by Howard Market for ATY (Jewish author). This was so dry and the audiobook narrator was also dry. It seemed like he'd just put all his research into book form, like I don't need to know about everyone's parents. I only gave it three stars since it does attempt to right the wrongs against Franklin."
Yeah, Isaacson gave a rough timeline for how they screwed her over in The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race.

"The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa for ATY (fauna). Not my favourite Japanese cat book, felt it was edging into book snobbery at times."
I've read two Japanese cat books this year! But, ooohhh, I definitely want this one!!

"My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey for a book I know nothing about and this is why it's probably not a good idea to read books at random. More sex than plot and I didn't like the possessive alpha male in it."
Ugh. Definitely not one I would enjoy...

"QOTW:
I am not sure I can remember all the good ones, the terrible ones stay with me longer!"
That happens sometimes!