Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2023 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 48: 11/24 - 11/30
Mod
This week I finished one book and DNFed one book.
Antelope Woman by Louise Erdrich - I generally love Erdrich, she always tells an engaging story, but this one was not great, it's my least favorite of all her books because I found it confusing and I never cared about any of the characters. I used this for my "23rd book" - when I was looking up books I might read for Native American Heritage month, I looked at the list of all of Erdrich's books on GR, and lo and behold, this book was the 23rd on the list! And I had not yet read it! Voila!
I did DNF one book, out of boredom:
I'm Only Wicked with You by Julie Anne Long - I love this author but I admit to being biased against this book because the cover is so weird, her eyes are a bizarre color and her facial expression is just wrong, like she's some kind of alien creature. I gave the book a shot, but I kept falling asleep, and never wanting to pick it up again. I've had it borrowed for six weeks and made little progress. There's no point in forcing my way through a romance novel, it's not like I don't know how it's going to end. The entire value of a romance is the joy of the journey, and this journey is boring AF.
FINALLY!! I'm 100% across the board, just in time to focus on the new list!!!
Popsugar 100% 50 /50
Must Reads 100% 12 /12
Nay's Winter 100% 10 /10
AtY 100% 52 /52
QotW
I think the biggest surprise for me was how upset so many people were about the term "fat" in "romance with a fat lead."
I'm fat, and I know all about fat-shaming, but I didn't realize that so many people thought that "fat" itself was a bad word. To be honest, the backlash made me feel bad, like is being fat SO shameful that I can't even say it?
Happy Thursday and happy end of November! What a crazy year it's been. Hard to believe we're already at the end of it.Hope you all are doing well.
I'm bummed that Nonfiction November is over with, but despite always reading NF anyways, I'm excited to look on to other books. I may not hit the 80% NF like I'd planned because some of the books I have set up for December are fiction which is fine.
Onto my book news:
For the month of November I read 8 books so I'm proud of that. 2 of them were poetry and 6 were general.
You Are What You Watch
Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels
Disability Visibility (Adapted for Young Adults): 17 First-Person Stories for Today
UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here―and Out There
Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma
STOP trying to SAVE me by Bekka Jean: Poetry & Prose for the Broken, Angry, Irrational, Confused, Searching, & Awakening Souls
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
Requiem of Youth
*****
With November over, I've got my December TBR set. One is a buddy read, and two are BOTM's. I then have some books that are part of a winter readathon. I'm looking at 7 or 8 books for that month.
*****
Like many of you, I am super excited for the PS Challenge 2024. I keep refreshing just to see if there will be a sneak peek. Talk about anxious. Of course there's always the full list tomorrow so I'm anticipating that and will most likely refresh my browsers like every 10 minutes even from 2 A.M. LOL!
*****
QOTW:
Which prompt from the 2023 reading challenge surprised you the most? Why? Or How?
I had a hard time with this years PS Challenge. So many prompts geared towards fiction so I struggled a lot. In the end I could not get to 15 of the prompts.
I have told myself though that I'm going to try to read more fiction for 2024 even though it's not really my genre.
To answer the question though, the one that surprised me the most was the prompt 'a queer lead'. I hardly read books with LGBTQ+ authors or representation so I decided to try my hand at this.
The book I read was Lesbians on Television: New Queer Visibility & the Lesbian Normal . I gave this a 3-star rating. While it was good, it was not the best. Maybe it's because it was my first time experience an LGBTQ+ read so I didn't know how to go about it.
The topic was a good one though. My favorite chapter was about Lena and Stef from the show 'The Fosters'. That was the first show I ever watched with LGBTQ+ rep. so it was nice reading about what the book had to say in regards to the show and to those characters in particular.
Like I said, I'm really going to try hard for more fiction reads next year. Maybe that will make the PS Challenge a bit easier.
Happy Thursday! It’s tech week for Shakespeare in Hollywood so my reading has taken its usual dip this week. I have some time during the show to read but since I’m still not totally familiar with the script I find myself listening for my next cue rather than focusing on the book I brought with me. I caught up on the last two weeks’ worth of DWTS performances, which I haven’t actually watched in ages, but I love Jason Mraz and Xochitl Gomez!Finished this week:
Shakespeare in Hollywood - 4 stars. Messy but fun! Book about or set in Hollywood
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI - 4.5 stars. The opening section was a little rough but once it got going it didn’t stop.
PS 44/50
ATY 52/52
Mount TBR 49/60
Currently:
Down Among the Dead Men
The Da Vinci Code reread
I tried 2-3 audiobooks this morning and couldn't settle on anything, so I found a lo-fi LOTR playlist on YouTube instead and that's getting me through the day.
QOTW: Which prompt from the 2023 reading challenge surprised you the most? Why? Or How?
I agree with Nadine's answer about the Romance with a fat lead category. Before I ditched Twitter (after the M*sk takeover but prior to X), my corner of the social media sphere was very skewed toward body positivity and reclaiming the word "fat" from people who thought it offensive, so to see so many people reverting to that attitude when the list was initially released and they saw that prompt really threw me.
It snowed this morning, it didn't settle (except on my dog's head) but it's enough of a novelty round here that everyone was super cheery. We're off to see Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes tonight, so that will distract me from The List. The Planet Zoo community has been eagerly awaiting a hint of the next DLC this week too and that didn't happen either, so my patience has been thoroughly tested. I hope they don't announce the list too late tomorrow as I'm 8 hours ahead of them.
One book read this week, The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab which I enjoyed but it's not really a new trilogy it's just book 4 of DSoM series and it could have done with a bit of trimming. Like I don't really care about what Lila and Kell got up to in the 7 years since the last book, I wanted to focus more on the present.
QOTW:
Not really, I didn't exactly give the challenge a lot of effort this year.
Mod
I LOVE this: And happy List Release Eve! 😁
"Antelope Woman by Louise Erdrich - I generally love Erdrich, she always tells an engaging story, but this one was not great, it's my least favorite of all her books because I found it confusing and I never cared about any of the characters. I used this for my "23rd book" - when I was looking up books I might read for Native American Heritage month, I looked at the list of all of Erdrich's books on GR, and lo and behold, this book was the 23rd on the list! And I had not yet read it! Voila!"
I own this one but have yet to try reading it... Sorry it wasn't more enjoyable for you!
"I did DNF one book, out of boredom:
I'm Only Wicked with You by Julie Anne Long - I love this author but I admit to being biased against this book because the cover is so weird, her eyes are a bizarre color and her facial expression is just wrong, like she's some kind of alien creature. I gave the book a shot, but I kept falling asleep, and never wanting to pick it up again. I've had it borrowed for six weeks and made little progress. There's no point in forcing my way through a romance novel, it's not like I don't know how it's going to end. The entire value of a romance is the joy of the journey, and this journey is boring AF."
I hope the next book you read is a WINNER!!! You deserve it after these two! 🤣
"FINALLY!! I'm 100% across the board, just in time to focus on the new list!!!
Popsugar 100% 50 /50
Must Reads 100% 12 /12
Nay's Winter 100% 10 /10
AtY 100% 52 /52"
Kudos to you!! Congrats! 👏👏👏😁👍
"QotW
I think the biggest surprise for me was how upset so many people were about the term "fat" in "romance with a fat lead."
I'm fat, and I know all about fat-shaming, but I didn't realize that so many people thought that "fat" itself was a bad word. To be honest, the backlash made me feel bad, like is being fat SO shameful that I can't even say it?"
Now I feel a bit badly since I was one of those most vocal about my displeasure with this wording. However, I view "fat" as a negative/derogatory term for others to use! I am technically "obese" myself...or "fat"...but I definitely consider "fat" to be rude when used by other people and I decline to use it myself. So perhaps this is simply a personal preference? Anyway, my intention was certainly not to make anyone else feel badly about their size/weight etc., just simply to be respectful and select wording that was (IMO!) more respectful. So I apologize for my protest making you (or anyone else) uncomfortable. Just please know my intention was the opposite! Communication does depend upon the interpretation of the receiver/listener. This is a good example of how that can go absolutely wrong!! 😒
Happy Thursday!I am down to reading one book and I'm only reading one in December, so I made good progress on Dr. Zhivago.
And I finally finished reading 15 books in a series. I cut the number of series I'm reading down to 6 from 12. That's huge for me. Next year I'm reading 2 books in each series.
Finished:
Alvin Journeyman
ATY prompt: A book nominated for an award beginning with W (Whitney Award)
Popsugar prompt: can't find one
Series - 15/15 - I finished my goal!
Series Completed: - Lying Games, Bronwyn the Witch, Divergent, Millenium, Heather Wells, Mortal Instruments
Nobel laureates - 6/7
Random books - 7/7 - I finished my goal!
ATY - 47/40
PS - 39/30
Nadine's 23 challenge - 10/10 -Completed!
Summer challenge: 12/12 - Completed!
Around the year in 52 movies - 49/52
48. A movie with an unusually large version of an animal in the story - Clifford the Big Red Dog
Currently reading:
Doctor Zhivago - 57% done
Buddy Reads:
The Horse and His Boy - 13/15 chapters
QOTW: I didn't do a lot of planning and just slotted books in. The book that surprised me the most was Daisy Darker. I read a lot of mysteries/thrillers and I was expecting it to be good, but not that good. I absolutely loved this book.
Happy Thursday, everyone! I am currently on week two of being sick, and while I am starting to feel better, I’m really getting tired of blowing my nose. I’ve lost track of the number of tissue boxes I’ve gone through, but I’m definitely in the double digits at this point. I’m really looking forward to getting over this!
I do have to admit though that this was a fantastic week for reading!
Now that I have reached my 40% TBR completion goal, I’ve been focusing almost exclusively on reading the books I’ve purchased since the beginning of the year. I currently have only 5 left to read, but they are all very long books. I’m aiming to have them all finished by the middle of December, and I will definitely have to stay on top of my reading to accomplish that.
Here are my current challenge and TBR totals…
Goodreads Challenge: 793/400 (Challenge Complete!)
Mount TBR Challenge: 150/150 (Challenge Complete!)
📚Physical TBR: 319/634
📱Ebook TBR: 22/236
🎧Audiobook TBR: 13/13
TBR Checklist Total: 354/883 (40.0% complete)
I did not get any new books this week!
Apart from some manga volumes that I preordered several weeks ago, I am not planning to buy any more books this year.
“New” Books Bought in 2023: 433
“New” Books Read in 2023: 428/433 (98.8% complete)
Here are the books I finished this week…
Finished Reading (Fiction):
~Crown of Midnight — This was such a fantastic book! So much drama and action! 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
~Heir of Fire — This series just keeps getting more and more exciting! I enjoyed this book so much! 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
~Queen of Shadows — I thoroughly enjoyed this book! There was so much action and drama! 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
~The Last Wish — I really enjoyed getting back into the world of The Witcher, and was glad that my library had a copy of this audiobook available to borrow. The audiobook was really good, and I liked the narrator a lot. 🎧: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
~Love in the Time of Serial Killers — This book was actually an impulse purchase, so I really didn’t know what to expect when I started it. I ended up really liking the story and characters, and read most of the book in a single sitting. Content Alert: (view spoiler) 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
~Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal — When I picked up a copy of this book, I was a little concerned that the gross-out factor would be a bit much for me. While the book does have its fair share of “ewww” moments, I actually found it really interesting. I wouldn’t say that this is my favorite of Mary Roach’s books, but I’m glad I took the time to read it. Content Alert: (view spoiler) 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
None
Finished Reading (Poetry and Drama):
None
DNFed:
None
Currently Reading:
~Empire of Storms — I am currently a little over halfway through this book, and really enjoying it. I will probably finish it this afternoon, or later this evening. 📚
~Peril at Owl Park — This is the second book in the Aggie Morton Mystery Queen series. I decided to borrow this audiobook from my local library, and I’ve been listing to it for about an hour each night before bed. I’m really enjoying it so far. 🎧
QOTW:
I didn’t participate in this year’s challenge, so I can’t really say that I found any of the prompts surprising.
Read: The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet This book was just all right. ALL the characters turned out to be LGBTQIA which just seemed a little bit too convenient...The Jules Verne Prophecy This book was not believable at all, but it was fun to make fun of!
Start Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done This was a re-read for me and helpful (I think, I hope.)
Started: The Philosophy of Improvisation
Love Almighty and Ills Unlimited
Qotw: Honestly, I was surprised by how uninspiring the whole challenge was. I extracted a few prompts for my whole challenge and didn't do the PopSugar challenge. But I'm just as excited as everyone else for the new one! I'm hoping that because she got so much community input, 2024 will be better.
Happy Thursday! I totally missed last week's check-in, so you're all going to get a double dose of recently read books. I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW POPSUGAR CHALLENGE!!!
Challenge Progress: Done, done, done! Ready for January 1... except the planning and organizing and... How many holds does my library let me have?
Recently Read:
Bookworm ★★★
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear ★★★★
Year of Yes ★★★★★
Meet Me in the Margins ★★★★
The Spare Room ★★★
The Women of NOW: How Feminists Built an Organization That Transformed America ★★★★
Our Wives Under the Sea ★★★
The London Séance Society ★★★★
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife ★★★★
The September House ★★★
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking ★★★★
Mistletoe and Mr. Right (Moose Lake, Alaska, #2) ★★★
Thief Liar Lady ★★★
The Celebrants ★★★
Currently Reading:
The Bell in the Fog (Andy Mills, #2)
Thicker than Water: A Memoir
Lore Olympus: Volume Five
The Berry Pickers
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (Book Club)
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism
In the Likely Event
Picture Perfect Autumn
QOTW: I can't pinpoint a single prompt that I was surprised by, but I was surprised by the sheer number of prompts I didn't like or ended up fulfilling with books I'm not sure I really enjoyed. The nostalgia theme was a real loser.
L Y N N wrote: "I can’t resist mentioning that Ariel Lawhon has a new book scheduled to release December 5: The Frozen River. She is one of my absolute favorite authors. I have read and loved 3 of her books!"I just ordered The Frozen River from BOTM. Now I'm really excited to read it! One of my 2024 challenges requires me to read THREE books by the same author. Maybe Ariel Lawhon is a good choice?!
Happy Thursday, and happy prompt-list-eve!Finished:
The Future by Naomi Alderman - 3.5 stars - It was an interesting sort of sci-fi, techno-heist sort of story. Pretty enjoyable.
Currently reading:
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver - so far, this is a cute rom-com about a woman who just moved to New York.
Upcoming/Planned:
Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison - this book was recommended during a virtual writing panel I attended earlier this month and it sounded fascinating.
The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec
QOTW:
I think I was most surprised that there were two categories that required you to buy a book. For one of them (indie bookstore), I was already buying a book for a signing event that fit the bill. For the other (secondhand), I rarely buy physical books except for special occasions, so I admit I cheated and borrowed a library book instead of buying one.
I didn't check in last week, so 2 week update.I finished Winter and Night. It was OK, but not great.
I read Murder at Rough Point. I was enjoying the series, but I realized they are rather similar to each other. I own one more, then I think I'm done.
I read Six Cats a Slayin'. Pretty corny and no clues on the mystery.
Now I'm reading Queen Victoria's Mysterious Daughter: A Biography of Princess Louise. Interesting so far.
Qotw. I think I was most surprised that there were 3 separate romance categories.
Mod
I just ordered The Frozen River from BOTM. Now I'm really excited to read it! One of my 2024 challenges requires me to read THREE books by the same author. Maybe Ariel Lawhon is a good choice?!"
I can heartily recommend her. I have read and loved The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress (that was the first one I ever read)
Flight of Dreams
I Was Anastasia
And I own Code Name Hélène which I am excited to read but just haven't gotten to it yet!
Whomever you select, I hope you enjoy all three books!
Mod
Another week in this holiday cycle. Halloween and Thanksgiving are behind us and now Christmas is bearing down on us.I completed a group hike on Saturday, and I am feeling better about my hiking stamina. This hike was a forest path mostly and involved going up and down hill and navigating over roots. I was less tired and better able to do other things afterward rather than collapse as I did after the last hike.
The other exciting time for me this week was my every other week shooting range results. My goals when I started going was to (1) get comfortable handling my pistol [not jumping so much when someone shot near me, no longer shaking when shooting, and just feeling competent with setting up target and loading pistol] and (2) improving my aim. This week, I scored 72/75 points with 14/15 in the center body are (5 pts each). I am proud of having achieved my goals.
Finished
Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey – GN. I enjoyed this LBGTQ story, but some of the hockey slang made it a bit of challenge to figure out. Still, would read another sometime. 3*.
Mister Impossible – Other challenge. Series. 3*. I like this story but sometimes get lost in who is who. Oh, I can keep the main characters in mind, but the side characters…sometimes not. Jordan Hennessey are two different characters with each having one half of the name as primary and then there is the mother (dead) who uses initials JH Hennessey. Still I will finish this trilogy…on to book #3.
A Study in Emerald – GN. 4* Neil Gaiman’s take on Sherlock Holmes and the villain that escapes the law’s clutches. Fun, quick.
Currently Reading:
The Age of Innocence – Library discussion. 46%. Made headway but will not have it returned by today (goal).
Circe – Nadine’s Challenge (ATY). 9%. Due 12/5. Need to get back to this book.
The Choice – Audiobook. 50%. Loving this book.
The Mask of Mirrors – PS #17. 87%. I expect to finish this book by today.
On deck:
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep – Due 12/2. PopSugar Seasonal.
In Cold Pursuit: A Mystery from the Last Continent – Due 12/2. Other challenge.
The Stone Circle – ATY #47 – last week’s book.
Bless the Bride – Other challenge.
On Back Burner for now
The Beginner's Photography Guide: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Manual for Getting the Most from Your Digital Camera – PS #2. 27%.
Dreams and Shadows –Kindle. 14%.
PS 40/50 (80%) and 7/10 (70%) for Nadine’s Challenge
ATY 46/52 (88%) and Fall Challenge 11/15 (73%).
GR 226/200
QotW: Which prompt from the 2023 reading challenge surprised you the most? Why? Or How?
Two prompts: the two that focused on books published in 2023. I do not usually read current published books. They are harder to obtain from the library and, often times if really new, have only a short loan.
Mod
Oh no don't feel bad. I think weight issues are like the "final frontier" of societal disdain, the one group of people that most other people still feel comfortable opening criticizing (either overweight people or underweight people). So we are all extra sensitive.
Happy Thursday! And hooray for me: I managed to have NO events on Thursday. Except for the national meeting of municipalities using certain website software. I had to travel 5 hours on the train (in total). It was too busy to read (I like to take notes, that was impossible because of the crowded trains), but I listened 3 podcasts.PS: 38/50 (goal: 40/50)
Total 2023: 60/52
Finished
Gisèle by Susan Smit ⭐⭐
Not for PS
How a group of artists survived World War 2 in the Netherlands. A bit boring, the artists’ world is not mine.
Currently reading
Go as a River by Shelley Read
Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas
QOTW
A book about or set in Hollywood. I’m in complete dark considering celebs and all that. So I was dreading this prompt. I finally chose The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I usually don’t like this type of ‘tick-all-the-rainbow-boxes’ books. But Jenkins’ catchy writing makes it fun to read her books. I even read another Jenkins’ book this year.
Mod
Yeah. I just keep trying to remember my immense disappointment upon first reading through the 2023 prompts a year ago and then as I began planning, I was thrilled with the books I could fit into most of the prompts... So no matter my initial reaction, I am holding out hope to once again be happy in the end... 😊
Happy Thursday!So the weather has been below freezing at night for a while. LOVE!!! Finally, real winter weather. My kids are dressed in their sweaters. Last week we had two Dog Vader Christmas style and this week we have gingerbread men saying, "bite me".
Last Friday the baby girl was sooooo hangry. She ate 4 ritz crackers and a tiny bit of mac & cheese. Then, at dinner time, she just ate and ate and ate until her little belly was hard as a stone! According to my sister, she just touched the bottle to Livvie's lips and she passed out! Food coma! and slept 13 hours to boot.
My boss told me yesterday that we won't be getting the LSTA (library grant) this year. So we have to get the Friends group to fund it along with some miscellaneous funds from the library. She did go on to tell me that I can have the entirety of the Collection Development grant as compensation. I was rather shocked when she told me this.
Plus, she's retiring soon. The advert went out a while ago.
Other than that, I've been binge watching House on Hulu and discovered the Peta Wilson version of Le Femme Nikita is on Tubi!!! So I've been binging that since yesterday.
Goodreads Challenge 662/400
Finished:
I'm Only A Substitute Consort, but the Emperor Won't Let Me Leave Vol. 1
I'm Only A Substitute Consort, but the Emperor Won't Let Me Leave Vol. 2
Lord Hades's Ruthless Marriage, Vol. 1
My Gently Raised Beast, Vol. 2
QOTW:
Romance with a fat lead. That did surprise me. I wasn't sure if I liked the use of the word fat, but my colleague (19 yrs younger than I am) told me that people were taking the word fat back and using it with positivity. So I learned something new and had my opinion changed.
Mod
Hope you all are doing well.
I'm bummed that Nonfiction November is over with, but despite always reading NF anyways, I'm excited to look on to other books. I may not hit the 80% NF like I'd planned because some of the books I have set up for December are fiction which is fine."
I love the fact that you can adapt from your original goal and be satisfied. That is a skill! I have learned to be better about, but I still have to "talk myself down" sometimes when I don't reach a goal!
"Onto my book news:
For the month of November I read 8 books so I'm proud of that. 2 of them were poetry and 6 were general.
You Are What You Watch
Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels
Disability Visibility (Adapted for Young Adults): 17 First-Person Stories for Today
UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here―and Out There
Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma
STOP trying to SAVE me by Bekka Jean: Poetry & Prose for the Broken, Angry, Irrational, Confused, Searching, & Awakening Souls
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
Requiem of Youth"
Congrats!! 👏👏👏😁👍
"Like many of you, I am super excited for the PS Challenge 2024. I keep refreshing just to see if there will be a sneak peek. Talk about anxious. Of course there's always the full list tomorrow so I'm anticipating that and will most likely refresh my browsers like every 10 minutes even from 2 A.M. LOL!"
I will certainly not be as diligent as that! If you see something, please report it here!! LOL
"QOTW:
Which prompt from the 2023 reading challenge surprised you the most? Why? Or How?
I had a hard time with this years PS Challenge. So many prompts geared towards fiction so I struggled a lot. In the end I could not get to 15 of the prompts.
I have told myself though that I'm going to try to read more fiction for 2024 even though it's not really my genre."
Likewise, but in reverse, I am determined to read more nonfiction in 2024! I love nonfiction but fiction just seems to overtake me unless I really push myself to include nonfiction! And, I do believe that is one huge benefit of partaking in challenges as well as communicating with other readers, *cough* especially through the Goodreads Popsugar group! (You may consider that to be a commercial announcement! LOL) At least for me, this truly forces me to track and evaluate my reading in many ways I'm sure I would not do otherwise...
"To answer the question though, the one that surprised me the most was the prompt 'a queer lead'. I hardly read books with LGBTQ+ authors or representation so I decided to try my hand at this.
The book I read was Lesbians on Television: New Queer Visibility & the Lesbian Normal . I gave this a 3-star rating. While it was good, it was not the best. Maybe it's because it was my first time experience an LGBTQ+ read so I didn't know how to go about it.
The topic was a good one though. My favorite chapter was about Lena and Stef from the show 'The Fosters'. That was the first show I ever watched with LGBTQ+ rep. so it was nice reading about what the book had to say in regards to the show and to those characters in particular.
Like I said, I'm really going to try hard for more fiction reads next year. Maybe that will make the PS Challenge a bit easier."
Again, I think it's wonderful that you were open to a new reading experience!! YAY YOU!! Perhaps for fiction reads in 2024 you can target LGBTQ characters!
Mod
I think spending time doing what you love to do is very worthwhile. Sometimes other activities must be put aside for a bit. Totally understandable!
"Shakespeare in Hollywood - 4 stars. Messy but fun! Book about or set in Hollywood"
This sounds very humorous!
"I tried 2-3 audiobooks this morning and couldn't settle on anything, so I found a lo-fi LOTR playlist on YouTube instead and that's getting me through the day."
Whatever it takes!! 😊
"QOTW: Which prompt from the 2023 reading challenge surprised you the most? Why? Or How?
I agree with Nadine's answer about the Romance with a fat lead category. Before I ditched Twitter (after the M*sk takeover but prior to X), my corner of the social media sphere was very skewed toward body positivity and reclaiming the word "fat" from people who thought it offensive, so to see so many people reverting to that attitude when the list was initially released and they saw that prompt really threw me."
Well, please read my reply to Nadine. I certainly did not mean to make others uncomfortable by criticizing the use of that term. My intention was the opposite. 😒
Mod
Enjoy!
"The Planet Zoo community has been eagerly awaiting a hint of the next DLC this week too and that didn't happen either, so my patience has been thoroughly tested. I hope they don't announce the list too late tomorrow as I'm 8 hours ahead of them."
Fingers crossed for that as well as the 2024 Popsugar list!
"One book read this week, The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab which I enjoyed but it's not really a new trilogy it's just book 4 of DSoM series and it could have done with a bit of trimming. Like I don't really care about what Lila and Kell got up to in the 7 years since the last book, I wanted to focus more on the present."
Huh. At least I know a bit more about what to expect from this book now!
"QOTW:
Not really, I didn't exactly give the challenge a lot of effort this year."
Fair enough!
Hi all! Hope my fellow americans had an enjoyable Thanksgiving last week. Finished:
We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe: really good intro to some of the bigger questions of the universe and what we still don't know about it.
Currently reading:
The Woman in White: this is so sloooowwww. I'm going to need a crime, preferably a murder, to happen soon lol
In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917: still have yet to encounter an author who I feel a need to read more from, but it's really interesting seeing the progression. the stories are in roughly publication order and you can feel the evolution of the genre. perhaps as we get more into the 20th century and I find myself on more familiar territory I'll find some gems
QOTW: I think I was most surprised by the NaNoWriMo prompt. I'm still on the side of thinking it's not a great prompt because not all of those projects make it to publication (traditional or otherwise) and even if they do, not every author talks about it. So it ends up being a fairly limited list of books that are known to have been connected to NaNoWriMo.
Mod
I am down to reading one book and I'm only reading one in December, so I made good progress on Dr. Zhivago.
And I finally finished reading 15 books in a series. I cut the number of series I'm reading down to 6 from 12. That's huge for me. Next year I'm reading 2 books in each series."
Sounds like a plan. I am trying to decide which series to concentrate on in 2024.
"Alvin Journeyman
ATY prompt: A book nominated for an award beginning with W (Whitney Award)
Popsugar prompt: can't find one"
Oh, I'll accept that challenge! LOL Did you mean to read it in 2022? Did you purchase from an independent bookstore? Are there mythical creatures in it? Is there a forbidden romance? Aha! #16 A book where the main character's name is in the title!
"QOTW: I didn't do a lot of planning and just slotted books in. The book that surprised me the most was Daisy Darker. I read a lot of mysteries/thrillers and I was expecting it to be good, but not that good. I absolutely loved this book."
Sounds as if I should move this one up on my TBR listing. 🙂
K.L. wrote: "Happy Thursday, everyone! I am currently on week two of being sick, and while I am starting to feel better, I’m really getting tired of blowing my nose. I’ve lost track of the number of tissue bo..."
Oh boy... I hope you feel better soon! I hate that feeling that you're losing all your bodily fluid through your nose...
Happy Thursday!I'm psyched for the list drop! I'm glad it's being released on my day off, because I know that otherwise I'd be pretty useless at work, trying to match up books with prompts, haha...
Also starting December 1st, I have to start calling in for jury duty. Boo. Hopefully they don't need me...
Books read this week:
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story . . . with Wings -- reading about the feral parrots living in San Francisco was fun. Reading about the guy who feeds and writes about them? Not so much.
The Cardboard Kingdom #3: Snow and Sorcery -- this is a cute and fun graphic novel series, and this is another fun entry in the series!
The Year of the Hare -- kind of a meandering tale, but a bit of wish-fulfillment reading for anyone who’s ever wanted to just drop everything and run away from life. Also the hare was cute.
City Under One Roof -- decent thriller, and feels set up to be the beginning of a series without ending on a cliffhanger, thank goodness…
DNF:
To Shape a Dragon's Breath -- Indigenous representation and dragons? That sounded like a great mix. Too bad the writing was so bland…
Prisoner of Ice and Snow -- Couldn’t get into it. Can we get to care about the characters before you throw them in prison, maybe?
Currently reading:
A Day of Fallen Night
Wise Child
The Ghoul of Windydown Vale
Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms & Space
QOTW:
I was most surprised by the "fan fiction" prompt -- as someone who's been writing fanfic since high school (over 20 years ago, man I feel old...), I've spent so long thinking of it as an embarrassing secret hobby that it's kind of exciting to see it recognized by people as an actual, if not exactly respectable, hobby.
Hi all! It's busy time! Thanksgiving last week and Christmas stuff starting this weekend. My kiddo just joined girl scouts and they have a booth at a festival this weekend. Because she just joined, I didn't know about it and scheduled a visit to Santa at the same time... I think we can squeeze both in, but I am already dreading how completely exhausted I'm going to be afterwards. Tomorrow is also my boyfriend and my 16th anniversary. We already decided we will celebrate some other time... My birthday is in a few weeks, getting a tree, Christmas parties, family events, etc... already feeling overwhelmed. Plus my usual onslaught of doctor's appointments and 2 new ones that I've been referred to see.... Oy. I'm looking forward to the list. I've been stopping by the Popsugar website hoping for the sneak peak, but nothing...
Read more in Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. I had no idea about any of this. I wish the author had included a list of people, there's a lot of names that I'm having a hard time keeping track of everyone. I had never heard of the government imposing financial guardianships over native peoples. So even when they came into fabulous wealth, they couldn't access their own money. You know, if white people in power put half as much energy into lifting people up as they do in keeping them down.... sigh.
QOTW: I was surprised at how many repeats there were. Either of past challenges or prompts that were super similar- published the year you were born/set in the decade you were born, bought indie/secondhand, 2 books published this year, books friends would like/have recommended, etc. I don't read fast enough to finish the challenge, so it wasn't an issue, and it won't be an issue if the new list is a bunch of copies, too. But it is less fun...
I got some reading in finally.For A celebrity memoir I read Making It So: A Memoir by Sir Patrick Stewart and I loved it very much. It's almost entirely about his acting so if you're hoping for him to dish on cast members of ST or Xmen that's not happening.
I read The Widows by Jess Montgomery for A book with a map which I wanted to love but found terribly slow and for me too emotional to enjoy because it was about coal miners in the 20s which was both my grandfathers and all their brothers.
For A book your friend recommended I read Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater. I was very disappointed in how this series ended.
QOTW This one is easy Making It So: A Memoir by Sir Pat. I hate celebrity memoirs. Memoirs in general don't interest me much and I generally don't care about the lives of entertainers, not my thing. I do, however, very much like Patrick Stewart and since the library had this book I picked it up as my post-cancer surgery read. It was good, like spending time with an old friend. I enjoyed that he didn't dwell on the romantic side of his life (and his missteps there) or bog down in salacious nonsense. It's all about his craft and his choices there in. I thought he wrote as well as he acts
Jennifer W wrote: "I was surprised at how many repeats there were. Either of past challenges or prompts that were super similar- published the year you were born/set in the decade you were born, bought indie/secondhand, 2 books published this year, books friends would like/have recommended, etc. I don't read fast enough to finish the challenge, so it wasn't an issue, and it won't be an issue if the new list is a bunch of copies, too. But it is less fun..."I think part of the reason last year's challenge had a lot of repeated prompts was that it was being taken over by someone new. It can be daunting to take over someone else's project and try to learn the ropes. I hope they have new prompts this year, though!
Kenya wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "I was surprised at how many repeats there were. Either of past challenges or prompts that were super similar- published the year you were born/set in the decade you were born, bo..."Oh, I absolutely agree. I also think they were rushed into it. So hopefully this year they've had time and energy to put into it. :)
Happy check-in! I'm excited for list day tomorrow and then a read-a-thon starting on Saturday!I ended up celebrating thanksgiving this past weekend and I actually did the turkey for once. I definitely need more practice. It was over cooked so no one had to worry and people did eat it so it's far from the worst thing I've ever made. 🤣
@Nadine and others sorry there was no sneak peak.
Finished Reading:
The Brothers Hawthorne ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I tried to read this when it first came out in August but the characters were so annoying to start. I tried it again and got past the annoying stage to the mystery/puzzles and it was good fun.
City of Glass ⭐⭐⭐
Reread. Clary was less annoying this time round because I knew where the story was going. Now I can get to reading the rest of this series.
PS 50/50
ATY 52/52
Nadine's 10/10
Goodreads 259/250
Currently Reading:
Cold Curses
QOTW:
After the underwhelming surprise of the theme/repeat prompts, there were some good new ideas: nanowrimo, fanfiction, divorce, and fat lead romance. I too learned about reclaiming the word fat so I think it was a good prompt.
Mod
I am currently on week two of being sick, and while I am starting to feel better, I’m really getting tired of blowing my nose. I’ve lost track of the number of tissue boxes I’ve gone through, but I’m definitely in the double digits at this point. I’m really looking forward to getting over this!
I do have to admit though that this was a fantastic week for reading!"
I am so very sorry that you continue to be sick, but I'm thrilled that you have had a "fantastic week for reading"!
"I did not get any new books this week!"
Perhaps one small 'benefit' of being sick? 🙂
"~Love in the Time of Serial Killers — This book was actually an impulse purchase, so I really didn’t know what to expect when I started it. I ended up really liking the story and characters, and read most of the book in a single sitting. Content Alert: (view spoiler) 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"
That is one quirky title!
"QOTW:
I didn’t participate in this year’s challenge, so I can’t really say that I found any of the prompts surprising."
Fair enough! 😊
Mod
The Jules Verne Prophecy This book was not believable at all, but it was fun to make fun of!"
These two look like great fun!
"Qotw: Honestly, I was surprised by how uninspiring the whole challenge was. I extracted a few prompts for my whole challenge and didn't do the PopSugar challenge. But I'm just as excited as everyone else for the new one! I'm hoping that because she got so much community input, 2024 will be better."
Our fingers are crossed!
I’ve come to accept that I am not going to finish the 2023 challenge. I’ve been trying to read for the 2022 and 2023 challenges at the same time, and it’s too hard trying to catch up. I’ll be able to finish the 2022 list, but I’m going to let the 2023 list go and focus on just the 2024 challenge next year. If I ever end up having a great reading year, maybe I can come back to it. In addition to being excited about the 2024 challenge, I’m also looking forward to tomorrow because I bought myself an Advent jigsaw puzzle to put together in December. Each day has its own box with about 40 puzzle pieces that fit together. The whole puzzle is put together over 24 days. I love the idea, and I’m really looking forward to getting started tomorrow!
Finished
Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century by Charles King (a book with a map). This was my second nonfiction book this year. I know that’s not alot, but for me it’s a win. I usually don’t read any nonfiction. I really liked this book. Clearly, I need to keep reading social science and historical nonfiction because I was as interested in this as some of the novels I read this year.
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (a book published in the first half of 2023). I enjoyed this book a lot. I don’t always click with Leigh Bardugo’s style (although I always love her stories), but I’m really glad I stuck with this series.
Galaxy Girl and the November Monstrosity by Aleksandra Hill. A short story about a superhero who goes home for Thanksgiving with a family that isn’t easily impressed.
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas (a book with mythical creatures). Fantastic! I’ve found another “must read” author. I liked The Hacienda better, but only because vampires aren’t my thing anymore. There was definitely a time in my life when this would have been my favorite.
Reading
I’m making a trip to the library tomorrow to find some new books. The plan is to start reading Year of the Reaper next.
QOTW
I was surprised by the two prompts for books published in 2023. I always expect one, but I was caught off guard by “a book published in the spring of 2023” and “a book published in the second half of 2023” appearing. Also, why spring and not the first half of 2023?
Happy last day of November! I was waiting to finish the book I was reading before checking in, and then got distracted all day. A couple people in my family came to Thanksgiving with colds, so I've been a fighting off a cold all week. It's not too bad, but hard to sleep. Looking forward to the new popsugar list tomorrow!Finished:
Trail of Lightning- I don't gravitate towards urban fantasy, but I liked the characters in this book. It ended pretty abruptly though. I know it's a series, but it still felt unfinished. Not sure if I'll keep one with the series
-41 A book written during NaNoWriMo
QotW:
I was surprised by the "book set in decade you were born"- because it turns out I hate reading about the 80s. I bailed on so many books for this category. Then I thought maybe I'd try to read something set in the 80s in a different country- and loved Foster. So double surprise.
I also feel like the NaNoWriMo prompt was super limiting.
Late post for me. We are not discussing my week or day so let's just go to the books. Made progress in PS - 47/50 - just 3 left and all are in hand!
Finished - all books that have been in progress for too long - finally had time to read over Thanksgiving:
The Firm
A Free Man of Color - for prompt holiday not Christmas - Mardi Gras in 1830 New Orleans. FAB!
Interior Chinatown
A Proper Introduction to Dragons
Currently Reading:
The Man in the Brown Suit
QOTW: Biggest surprise is that I still have 3 to read! I've had them at hand since August (one is the book published in 2nd half - and since I don't get or read ARCs...).
As for prompt - I'd say #35. divorce prompt. I rolled my eyes at that and thought I'd never just find a book from random unplanned reading to fit. WRONG! Almost immediately I picked up a mystery from the TBR Towers and damned if it didn't center on a divorce - The Sentence is Death. Loved it.
Katy wrote: "I think I was most surprised that there were 3 separate romance categories...."This threw me as I thought there was only one. I do read some romance, but I didn't pick up romance genre books for love triangle or forbidden romance. It's all about how you interpret the prompts.
Happy Friday everyone!Hope the list comes out today like they've said it would for the PS 2024 Challenge.
*****
Last night was pretty fun. Went to the one-night-event of the Casting Crowns documentary. I've listened to their music since I was 14.
*****
In terms of book news, my December TBR is set:
Twilight
The Hobbit
The Symposium
Comfort & Joy: A Fable
Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc
Some of the Light: New and Selected Poems
Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas STORIES BEHIND THE GREAT TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS by Collins, Ace (Author) Sep-16-03 Hardcover
L Y N N wrote: "Well, please read my reply to Nadine. I certainly did not mean to make others uncomfortable by criticizing the use of that term. My intention was the opposite. 😒"No worries at all, Lynn! We're all learning from each other and growing every day <3
Mod
That list had better be worth my full trash can 😁
Ellie wrote: "Katy wrote: "I think I was most surprised that there were 3 separate romance categories...."This threw me as I thought there was only one. I do read some romance, but I didn't pick up romance gen..."
I actually didn't do a romance for the love triange either, but didn't see a different way to go for the forbidden. I did go romance/fantasy that route, so it wasn't straight romance.
Mod
That sounds fascinating! I added it to my TBR
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas (a book with mythical creatures). Fantastic! I’ve found another “must read” author.
I still haven't read either of Isabel Cañas's books, but I have both on my radar. I just never find the time to read one. I've heard they are a bit slow and wordy and meandering, and that put me off.
The plan is to start reading Year of the Reaper next.
If you enjoy that book (and I did), you might be excited to learn that she has a new book coming out in 2024!! Dragonfruit
Jennifer W wrote: "IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen..."
OMG that's early! And there's some weirdly specific prompts in there... But yay for dragons at least.
Yeah, I'm definitely going to need this group's help for some of these! But overall, I like them!!
OMG the list looks amazing! Lots of excellent prompts. I did cross some out because they didn't interest me, but overall I'm satisfied.One of my favorite prompts is #29, "a book with a neurodivergent main character."
******
Since there was no room to write in the books on the template this time around I made one of my own excel sheets.
I just had a read-through of this year's prompts. A few first-impression thoughts:* There's a few repeated prompts, but not nearly as many as last year.
* Is it me or are the prompts harder this year? Maybe this'll please those who complained that the 2023 challenge wasn't challenging enough, hehe...
* Also a few of the prompts are ones that are on the Robot Librarian's Reading Challenge list... the list I designed earlier this year as a companion/alternative to PopSugar. Coincidence?
* HECK YEAH DRAGON PROMPT! Saying this not just because I love dragons but because 2024 is the Year of the Dragon.
* Genre I typically avoid... guess it's time to find a historical fiction or regency romance book and buckle down to read it, huh?
* "Book that starts with the letter X" -- y'all are tryin' my patience with this one...
Ellie wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen..."
OMG that's early! And there's some weirdly specific prompts in the..."
oh thanks for this! There are some really weird ones but overall, looks good
While there are some prompts I'm not looking forward to this list shows that Popsugar put effort and cares about the challenge. Besides a challenge being challenging is not really a problem.😉 Did anyone look throught the books they recommended for each prompt? I was happy to see them promoting many books that are being banned.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
System Collapse (other topics)Heartstopper: Volume Five (other topics)
Heartstopper: Volume Five (other topics)
Rock Paper Scissors (other topics)
Daisy Darker (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Ashley Poston (other topics)Paula Hawkins (other topics)
Alexandre Dumas (other topics)
Yevgeny Zamyatin (other topics)
Jill Shalvis (other topics)
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Okay, all! The 2024 Monthly Group Read listing is up for your perusal and consideration HERE.
I will create a January nomination poll later today ( POLL IS LIVE ) and it will be available through Tuesday, December 12. Then the January final selection poll will be posted Wednesday, December 13, and available through Tuesday, December 20. We will know the January Monthly Group Read title as of December 21! I realize that doesn't allow much time, but it is what it is. 😊
I am personally extremely excited about this year's challenge! Kudos to those who worked on it! I tried to do it justice by researching to discover some more obscure connections between a month and a prompt! It was difficult to narrow it down since I ended up with at least 2-3 ideas for every month. I tried to avoid some of the more general/obvious connections since we have a much more unique listing of prompts to consider this year!
So YAY!! I trying not to do much planning until January, but I'm sure I'll 'cheat' and keep peeking every now and then at the listopias and comments for each prompt! I don't often *squee*, but I am now!!
*****
We are done! We are ready and waiting with bated breath for tomorrow’s big announcement of the 2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompts!! We have placeholders posted for each prompt and the 2024 Monthly Group Reads!! We are ON IT!! I just checked the Facebook group and don’t see any mention of a sneak peek or anything else yet…
EDITED TO ADD: One of my favorite gym buddies and fellow instructors is a published poet! I had no idea until she told me last week. But she is not particularly computer savvy (e.g. no website for her sculptures or poetry) but she is interested in establishing an author page on Goodreads. Anyone here able to provide some basic information or tips about doing that? I promised her I would ask and then neglected to add it to my posting! Any and all help greatly appreciated. She is a real sweetheart and I would like to help her get her poetry a bit better-known, if possible! THANK YOU!
I can’t resist mentioning that Ariel Lawhon has a new book scheduled to release December 5: The Frozen River. She is one of my absolute favorite authors. I have read and loved 3 of her books!
For help with your planning for 2024 challenges I have included links for some book/award listings below!
Powell’s Best Fiction Books of 2023: https://www.powells.com/post/best-boo...
NPR’s Books We Love for 2023:
https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view...
Nero Book Awards—a brand new award!
https://nerobookawards.com/2023shortl...
You are welcome!! (Try not to spend as much time perusing these lists as I did! LOL) 😊
And…just in case you are looking for some additional motivation/impetus to read more, AtY is sponsoring a Winter Team Readathon December 2-10 and you can sign up HERE!
ADMIN STUFF:
The November Monthly Group Read is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern!. The discussion is posted in the Current Monthly Group Read folder HERE. We are wrapping this one up and preparing for…
The December Monthly Group Read of Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #0) by Travis Baldree. This book could be used to fulfill prompt #32 A book published in the last half of 2023. Surely there is a “cool captain” out there amongst you-all who is just dying to facilitate this discussion! Please message either myself or Nadine to volunteer! I’m so excited for this one!
Just a reminder that the comprehensive listing of 2023 Monthly Group Reads can be found HERE
Question of the Week:
Which prompt from the 2023 reading challenge surprised you the most? Why? Or How?
I was initially put off by prompt #13 A book published in the year you were born. (It was soooooo long ago!!) However, I ended up truly loving Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk! I would like to read more of his writing! This was just one of those “slice of life” novels about a Jewish girl trying to make it as an actress in New York City in the 1930s-1940s. Not Pollyannaish and not gruesome. Quite realistic, IMO.
Popsugar: 45/50
Nadine’s Q1 Mini-Challenge: 7/10
AtY: 52/52 DONE!
RHC: 14/24
FINISHED:
*Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐for an IRL book club was not at all what I expected! I expected a western and got a suspenseful hunt for one man who was living off the land much as his Indian ancestors had done! And in Siberia! Excellent descriptions of the terrain, etc., and good characterization. And, fortunately (also very unexpectedly) this book finished my AtY Fall Challenge with a book about an athlete. Makatozi was an athlete who just missed qualifying for the Olympics! He also was a genuinely compassionate opponent when he could allow for that. He allowed quite a few of those hunting him to live, choosing not to just kill them outright. I like that!
POPSUGAR: #19-2015: prompt #13 Set in a different country (Russia/Siberia), #23, #28, #29, #33, #34, #36
ATY: #3- A book about the environment or nature, #5, #6, $10-Scary, #14, #22, #24, #26, #37, #43, #45
RHC: #15, #24-2015: A book written by or about someone from an indigenous culture
CONTINUING:
*...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer to fulfill my longest book prompt (Glad to know I am not quite alone in leaving this one to the last month of the year!)
*10th Anniversary (Women’s Murder Club #9) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*The Call of the Wild by Jack London was a difficult read due to the abusive treatment of animals, but thought-provoking. I was fascinated to learn this was fan fiction and after learning a bit more about London himself wasn’t at all surprised to learn he was a white male alcoholic. (I wonder if all white male authors published within the first half of the 20th Century were alcoholics! Sheesh!)
*The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
This one will definitely need to wait until December or later...
PLANNED:
*Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey for an IRL book club
*Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum #30) by Janet Evanovich
*Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #0) by Travis Baldree for our December Monthly Group Read
*System Collapse (Murderbot Diaries #7) by Martha Wells