Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Happy Thursday

It is still snowing. Sigh. February. At least the sun sets later now..




***** Admin stuff *****
The February group read (for book club) is Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop and you can join the discussion here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The March group read (transgender / non-binary) will be: What Moves the Dead


The April group read (gardening) will be:
The Secret Garden

The final poll for May (birding) is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...

The nomination poll for June (influencer) is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...


Let us know if you'd like to lead any discussions!







This week I finished 4 books, 2 for this Challenge, so I am now 14/50:

A Killer Kind of Romance by Letizia Lorini - I downloaded this from NetGalley on a lark, and I'm so glad I did, it was a lot of fun. What's the word for a book that is both a murder mystery and a romance? Is that romantic suspense? This was sort of a loving parody of the romance genre, with each chapter representing a well-known trope (the "oh no one bed" trope, for example) Mild TW (view spoiler)[ the heroine gets a bloody package, suggesting her cat is in danger. But her cat is never actually harmed. Although I think she should have been a bit more careful with her cat!! (hide spoiler)] The MMC has curly hair, so I checked that category.

Blink and You'll Miss It written by Ethan S. Parker & Griffin Sheridan - another NetGalley download, it looked good, it was "read now" and I had some time on my hands before dinner, and again I'm so glad I downloaded this!! Five stars! It's just the right amount of confusing and mysterious to keep me engaged and reading, but never so confusing that I got annoyed. The art is crisp and easy to follow. There are some horror elements ((view spoiler)[alien like creatures consuming humans (hide spoiler)]), and a strong WLW storyline, so it might work for "sapphic comic," depending on how you look at that, since it's written and illustrated by men but the main characters are two women. Sometimes books, especially comic books, written by men do not do a good job depicting women, so I worried it would feel sexist, but it did not. No challenge category. I am hoping they release another volume!!

Be Not Afraid written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle- I enjoyed the first horror graphic novel that i downloaded from Boom! on NetGalley, so I went ahead and tried another that was also "read now." Unfortunately, this one was awful. It's horror, about a woman whose child is a nephilim, and it's so one-note. There's no nuance or mystery to this story. The art waas muddy and confusing. It's getting a lot of rave reviews, calling it a "master class" in the horror genre, but whatever those other readers are seeing, I did not see it. No challenge category.

Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher - I have been reading Kingsolver since she was Ursula Vernon writing about hamsters. I haven't read everything she's written, but I've loved everything I read ... until now. What a disappointment this book was! If you love cozy, read it. I do NOT love cozy. At least I found a challenge category for it!! Selena became good friends with the priest who lived down the road, so I checked off "platonic friendship."



Popsugar 32% 16 /50
Must Reads 0% 0 /1
2026 pub 14% 7 /50
NetGalley ratio 84%










Question of the Week
Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect: what were the best and worst challenge categories of 2025? (In your opinion, of course)



Last year's list feels like so long ago!!

The worst:
The last sentence category was not the greatest. I chose a classic Hemingway novel from a list of classic novels because the last sentence was interesting, but I understand why that didn't work for everyone (and it turns out I don't like Hemingway).

Space tourism surprisingly gave me fits. I could NOT find a book I liked. I've never had such trouble! I like SFF, it's one of my go-to genres, but it seems that "space tourism" mostly shows up in "cozy" type SFF OR it was in a book I read already, so I struggled to find a new-to-me book that would fit.

Unsurprisingly, I did not enjoy the book I read with a lower than 3 star rating. I don't choose books based on their GR ratings, and I don't put much stock in the average ratings, but ... I guess books with less than 3 stars are rated that low for a reason. I'm not really sure what the PS people intended with this category.


The best:

I really enjoyed the "2024 do-over" category. Every year the Challenge causes me to stumble upon something I really like that I never would have read otherwise, and this was a fun opportunity to re-visit my "new to me" thing (in my case: reading about K-Pop)

I also really liked "a classic you've never read" - I try to pick up a few classics each year, just to keep my reading diversified, so this was a nice fit for me.

I also really liked "set near a body of water" because, in general, I like being near bodies of water, and therefore I like reading books that are set near or on bodies of water. It just draws me in. This category didn't get me to read something new, it's something I always read anyway, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it!

Happy Thursday! I am still working to kick the stuffy nose and all around grossness. Thankfully, my therapist finally talked sense to me in the form of some hard truths, because my goal to finish in 50 days was turning obsessive and not fun anymore, so I only read what I wanted to this week and watched a ton of TV instead. It was much needed.

I am 41/50.

It's Not Her: not for the challenge, but could work for teen angst or hidden past: I have read a few Mary Kubica books, but they never really do much for me. They are fine, but not that memorable. This was by far my favorite from her. I didn't think it was incredible, but it was pretty good and definitely kept my attention.

The Pilot's Daughter: not for the challenge: I think I need to give up on this author. This is two so far this year from her that sounded like they should be right up my alley, but just didn't work for me at all. This was terribly predictable and not enjoyable.

After We Burned: teen angst: At first I had trouble with this one, because I couldn't keep up with who all the characters were (between perspective shift and time shifts), but eventually I realized that part of the problem was that the plot was too similar to another book I was reading, so I took a break from the other one Someone Knows to focus on this. Eventually, I got pretty caught up in it. Definitely a good choice for teen angst.

Currently reading:
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book: I hit a wall with this one. It's not bad. I'm just a mood reader and this isn't getting it right now.

Someone Knows: I'm intrigued by this one and it is nice and short, so we'll see.

Postmortem: I used to read this series a long time ago, but let it go. I saw that they are making it into a tv series, so I thought I would jog my memory with the first one.

QOTW:

My least favorite prompt was a book with less than a 3 star rating. I hate the whole idea of that. I thought there were a lot of good prompts last year, but my favorite was probably a book that reminds you of your childhood. I had a lot of fun picking one of those.

Happy Thursday all!

Life continues as usual -- work, school, writing. Weirdly, despite my homework load with school being lighter this semester, it feels more intense. Probably because it's my final semester and many of my classes revolve around self-reflection and preparing a final piece of writing that's meant to exhibit my writing strengths. The pressure is on, I guess...

Books read this week:

The Girl with the Silver Eyes - for “a book with fruit on the cover or in the title.” Not a masterpiece, but still an entertaining story about a girl with telekinetic powers.

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold - for “a book you hoped would fit a prompt but doesn’t.” Another fantastic entry in the Wayward Children series. I love these books.

I Who Have Never Known Men - for “a book about a sexless marriage." SOMEHOW I really enjoyed this book, despite it ticking a lot of my "things that annoy me about books" boxes. It's haunting and beautiful.

Challenge count: 24/50
Books read that weren’t for the challenge: 2

Currently reading:

Girl, Goddess, Queen - for “book with a shadow daddy”
Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy - for “a book that makes you want to travel to Italy”
What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life - for “a book with a character who has curly hair”
Slayers of Old - for “a book that features a platonic friendship between a man and a woman”

QOTW:

Man, looking back at last year, the prompts don't seem nearly as annoying as some of this year's prompts, haha... I do agree that the "book rated less than 3 stars" prompt was annoying. I ended up reading something that fell under the "so bad it's hilarious" category, but still... never again, PopSugar.

I did like the "snake on the cover or in the title" prompt, and the "book about a POC experiencing joy instead of trauma" and "book about an LGBTQ character that isn't about coming out" prompts. I'm liking the recurring theme of including that year's Chinese zodiac animal into the challenge, and I'm absolutely FOR books about minorities that allow them joy and happy endings.

Happy (?) Thursday! My library is having trouble with the Libby app. It keeps asking me to verify my card, but the library kicks back a message saying that it’s not a valid library card number even though I can log into their website without any issues. I hope they get this cleared up soon!

Reading Challenges:

52 Book Club: 26/52 (February Mini-Challenge: 3/6)
52 Books Read It, Watch It: 2/12
ATY: 18/52 (ATY Winter Challenge: 12/14)
Booklist Queen: 20/52
Popsugar: 18/50
Goodreads Winter Bookmarks: 8/12

My Ever-Growing TBR: 21/239 – 8.8%

💗 The Correspondent: Heart wrenching. (52 Books February Mini-Challenge #1 – related to letter/Popsugar #47 – told through letters) ★★★★★
💗 Fair Shake: Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy ★★★★
💗 The Ministry of Time: Page Turners Book Club/BOTM Selection. This was my second time reading this book. The first time it was a 4-star read – I read it for the plot. This time I really paid attention to the author’s language. (52 Books #44 – personification/Booklist Queen #13 – time in the title/Goodreads Bookmarks #10 – Swoony Stories) ★★★★★
💗 Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America (Popsugar #33 – doesn’t fit into another prompt) ★★★★
💗 How the Marquess Was Won (Booklist Queen #6 – historical romance) ★★★
💗 Top Ten (ATY Winter #5 – ten lords a-leaping) ★★★
💗 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, #1: Jane Austen Book Club. While the movie was vastly entertaining, the book simply wasn’t. It’s just Austen’s Pride and Prejudice… with zombies. (52 Books #7 – title starts with P/ATY #15 – wanted to read for a long time) ★★★
💗 Whip Smart: The True Story of a Secret Life: The memoir of a dominatrix… Vacuous, self-indulgent, and certainly embellished. Oh, and just a whole lot of (prurient, scatological) ick. (52 Books February Mini-Challenge #2 – related to punishment) ★
💗 Lost Lambs: BOTM Selection. (52 Books #5 – a conspiracy/Booklist Queen #50 – alliterative title/Popsugar #19 – teen angst) ★★★★
💗 Slaughterhouse-Five (ATY Winter #10 – five golden rings) ★★★★
💗 Two Women Living Together: Goodreads Giveaway. (ATY #9 – a number in the title/Booklist Queen #16 – about female friendship) ★★★★
💗 Longing for a Hero ★★
💗 On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters (52 Books #6 – title starts with O) ★★★★
💗 Say No to the Duke, The Wildes of Lindow Hall, #4 (52 Books February Mini-Challenge #3 – related to fourth) ★★★




QOTW: I don’t like prompts that are too specific, so I really didn’t like “a book about a food truck” or “a book about a running club.” I really had to hunt to find a book. It’s the same problem with this year’s Pilates prompt. I like prompts that involve cover images or title words, and I also like prompts that challenge me to read books about (or by) people who are unlike me: LGBTQ, BIPOC, disabled, etc.

PS: 20/40
52: 19/52
Connections: 10/21
Anti-Capitalist: 15/30

Finished: Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook This was pretty dark and gruesome. Probably my least favorite Peter Pan retelling, but still good!

Started: Take It from Me: An Agent's Guide to Building a Nonfiction Writing Career from Scratch Finally a publishing advice book that is up to date!

Democracy without Politics Not getting much out of this

Humankind: A Hopeful History Good so far.

The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy I really like this one.

QotW: Can I add my own question? How much do you guys read each day? Lately, I have been trying to limit my reading to two hours each day so that I get more other stuff done. (Though if I'm up past midnight, it's a free-for-all.)

PopSugar 10/50
AtY 11/50

Finished:
The Shining by Stephen King– For #30, a travel ghost story.
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, Shanna Tan (Translator) for #2 A book that features a platonic friendship between a man and woman


Currently Reading:
Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar -- This has an entry for every day of the year, except February 29th. Has nothing bad ever happened on leap day? July now.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – For #43, two books written by real-life partners or spouses. This is fantasy, I have to go slow and concentrate or I have to go back and reread the parts I space out, so this is sort of a long haul.
This Book Won’t Burn by Samira Ahmed I like young adult books. I think they fit my attention span better.
Die Strasse Nach Roswell by Connie Willis This is going to take months, but I’m going to get it done.
QOTW
Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect: what were the best and worst challenge categories of 2025? (In your opinion, of course)

I can't wait for this question re: 2026 (There are so many) But for 2025: #13. A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads. Good grief, why would you even want to?

And for Doni's own question: I'm pretty sure I don't read more than 2 hours ATM but that's because a computer game I love has been rereleased. I'll go back to reading more in a couple of months, I'm sure. Also, I listen to audiobooks when I'm doing errands or chores and that helps.

Morning all! I finally started watching the "Heated Rivalry" TV series, and loving it. The books are somewhere on my TBR stack.

I'm at 19 books for 2026.
Popsugar 16/50.
52 Book Club 16/52.
Booklist Queen 13/52.
This Challenge Killed the Bookworm 8/25.

Finished: Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert. Used for "pop or sugar in title," but would also work for "influencer culture."

Currently reading: Presidential Agent from Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd series of spy novels. The books are like 800 pages, but compulsively readable. Sinclair's insights on the appeal of fascism are unfortunately relevant all over again.

Next up: my library hold on Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals finally came through!

QOTW: As some have mentioned above, I don't know what the point is of categories like " less than 3 stars" or "book you've been avoiding." But the worst category IMO was "recommended by a chatbot."

Favorite category was "POC experiencing joy and not trauma." Definitely a timely choice! More generally, I like prompts that can fit multiple genres, and ones where you can figure out if it applies BEFORE reading the book.

Re Doni's question: I usually read for half an hour on my stationary bike daily, and then a couple hours at bedtime. Unless the book has reached a point where I absolutely have to know what happens next - then all bets are off!

@Doni: I'm in multiple book clubs, so I spend an hour a day reading and taking notes for those clubs. I also read an hour or two after dinner. Everything else is audiobooks. I'm retired, so I have plenty of time to listen while cleaning, walking, and shopping.

Questions first!

I read when I can (commuting, bedtime wind-down, at meal time, etc.), so I don't have a good estimate for number of minutes. I try to get through a chapter, one story, or 10% of each book I am working on every day, whichever makes more sense.

For the official question of the week, I agree with a lot of the mentions for worst of 2025, especially the <3 stars prompt. I do not <3 that idea. I will add the two books with the same title as one of my worst. The phenomenon of having the same title is not that common, and the odds of both books being great are bad.

Best of 2025 for me in concept, even if finding the right titles was not always easy:

Space tourism
Road trip
Luxury resort
Bucket list activity

I guess the common thread is something that takes me away from my everyday existence for a while.

Books finished:

The Seven Dials Mystery (3 out of 5 stars, reread for Agatha Christie Challenge)

It had its moments, and I like most of the characters she brought back from The Secret of Chimneys. Overall, it was readable but not much else for me. You get one of the first examples of the strange ways she writes younger generations. It reminds me of Stan Lee and the Marvel writers of the 1960's trying to give teens slang that they were not using or had stopped using years ago.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (4 out of 5 stars, reread, a book with a shadow daddy)

This book went up in my estimation by a star since the last read. Maybe it's because some of the backstory and explanation I was looking for came out in Shadow of the Sith. Kylo Ren is as close to a shadow daddy as I want to read about. I noticed the Leia/Rey relationship getting a lot more focus in the book than the movie gave it (they didn't have the footage, so that was understandable).

Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto (3 out of 5 stars, a book you meant to read in 2025)

The authors did a good job showing both the human stories and the type/amount of work that goes into getting a deep space mission approved and launched. The ending is a bit of a foregone conclusion from the title, but some parts still were very engrossing, mostly the launch day sequence for me.

Star Trek: Tales from the Captain's Table (3 out of 5 stars, reread)

I liked the stories with Riker, Shelby, Klag, and Gold the most on this read.

The One and Only Ivan (3 out of 5 stars, a book by an author from Michigan)

For the target audience, I would raise this a star. As a 40+ person, I still could enjoy the story and empathize with the characters. There are very few times where I am happy with a character getting hit in the groin in fictional entertainment, but I felt that Mack had it coming.

Currently reading:

Godzilla: The First 70 Years: The Official Illustrated History of the Japanese Productions (just finished the Son of Godzilla chapter)
Second Foundation (reread for Space Opera Fans buddy re-read)
Partners in Crime (reread for Agatha Christie Challenge)

Finally, the 2026 Winter Olympics from Italy are currently ongoing. Check out some of the event footage for inspiration if you want, or just enjoy it for its own sake. In the world of figure skating, the French and American couples teams for ice dancing were astounding, and the Japanese competitor in the male short program was extremely good. The American male speed skater (Jordan Stolz) put on a masterclass performance. Please feel free to share any amazing moments you have seen, as the NBC/Olympics channels have too much for me to watch everything.

Doni wrote: "QotW: Can I add my own question? How much do you guys read each day? Lately, I have been trying to limit my reading to two hours each day so that I get more other stuff done. (Though if I'm up past midnight, it's a free-for-all.)."



Great question!

Short answer: not enough! I no longer work so I have no excuse for not reading more.

Longer answer: I'm not really sure. I waste FARRRR too much time reading social media and playing silly games on my phone and (ironically) reading ABOUT new books. It's like my FOMO on new books paralyzes me and keeps me from actually reading books. It's possible that years of reading social media has shriveled my attention span, idk.

I guess I listen to my audiobook for about an hour each day, I read in bed before sleeping for an hour (some nights only ten minutes LOL some nights more than an hour), and I read my e-book for about a half hour each day. So that's maybe 2.5 hours each day? It's that third category that I really should expand, I should be putting in a good two hours of reading during the day each day, which would bump up my total reading time to 4 hours each day. I'm not really doing anything better with my time.

My husband is facing surgery and I am not looking forward to our immediate future… But I’m sure it could be worse.

In the meantime, I totally escaped into a favorite mystery series book yesterday and ended up completely forgetting to complete this week’s polls last night, so did that today!! I don’t think we can go wrong with any one of the four books still under consideration for the May Monthly Group Read to fulfill the birding prompt. I’m really intrigued to see what emerges from the June Monthly Group Read nomination poll to fulfill the influencer prompt! And I’m thrilled to see The Secret Garden selected for the April Monthly Group Read for the garden/gardening prompt! I love this classic!

Just a reminder that we will need a “happy horror reader” to lead the March discussion. I do not and cannot do horror!

ADMIN STUFF:
THE JANUARY 2026 MONTHLY GROUP READ SELECTION IS
Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey!!
This book could be used to fulfill Prompt #24 A book about postpartum
Celebration of Life Day is January 22!
There are a few more comments I will respond to and then this is headed to the 2026 Monthly Group Reads folder! YIKES! Over one month into 2026 ALREADY! 😯

THE FEBRUARY 2026 MONTHLY GROUP READ IS Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum!
This book could be used to fulfill Prompt #22 A book about a book club
International Book Giving Day is February 14!
Erin is the “fancy facilitator” who has graciously volunteered to lead this discussion! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, ERIN!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🎉🪄🎊
I am about halfway through on this one and really enjoying it!

THE MARCH MONTHLY GROUP READ IS What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier #1) by T. Kingfisher!
This book could be used to fulfill prompt #34 A book with a trans or nonbinary protagonist
Trans Day of Visibility is March 31!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...
WARNING: I will NOT be reading this since it is horror! I suggest one of you who enjoys reading horror lead this discussion, please!! Please post if you are the “happy horror reader” wishing to facilitate this one!

THE APRIL MONTHLY GROUP READ IS The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett!
This book could be used to fulfill prompt #1 A book where gardening or a garden is central to the plot
National Gardening Day is April 14
https://www.calendarr.com/united-stat...
Post to inform us if you are the “gardening guru” able to lead this discussion! This is a favorite read for me!

DOUBLE THE POLLS AND DOUBLE THE FUN!!

THE MAY MONTHLY GROUP READ FINAL SELECTION POLL IS HERE!
This book could be used to fulfill prompt #45 A book that features birding
World Migratory Bird Day is May 9
https://www.migratorybirdday.org/

There are 4 books from which to select:
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Life, Loss, and Puffins by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Photo by Skyler Ewing on Unsplash
*** This poll will run from February 12th through February 24th. ***

THE JUNE MONTHLY GROUP READ NOMINATION POLL IS HERE!
This book could be used to fulfill prompt #25 A book that explores influencer culture
World Social Media Day is June 30
https://nationaltoday.com/social-medi...

If you do not see the title you would like to nominate, please write it in. Please check the book's eligibility first! Only books that have NOT been discussed within the past two years (2024-present) are eligible. Remember to consult the listing of these books that are NOT eligible for this month HERE before nominating! :) There is an alphabetized listing by title as well as a chronological listing.

NOTE: This is the NOMINATION round, which is step one. We will select the top results from this round to create a new poll for a Final Vote to select ONE book for the June 2026 group read.

Photo by Good Faces on Unsplash
*** This poll will run from February 12th through February 24th. ***
********

THE LISTING OF 2026 MONTHLY GROUP READ TOPICS IS HERE!
***

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect: what were the best and worst challenge categories of 2025? (In your opinion, of course)
I had to open my Word document to see…
Immediately, my eyes landed on prompt #2 A book you want to read based on the last sentence
*Now or Never (Stephanie Plum #31) by Janet Evanovich
January 14 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I am loyal to this series and it will be, IMO, oh, so interesting to see where it goes now! 😊 It was, IMO, a perfect example for this prompt and initially I was so “UGH!” about it when I read it!

And then prompt #12 A book about a road trip
*The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley was such a perfect fit for this prompt and such an enjoyable read!
April 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
There are more, but I am stopping there! (You are welcome! LOL)

2026 READING CHALLENGES:
Popsugar: 14/50
52 Book Club: 30/52

FINISHED:
*Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for an IRL book club meeting this past Tuesday. I did find the dialogue to be a bit confusing for me to decode. This definitely prompted much interesting discussion at book club! Generational trauma is definitely real, IMO! While I can’t say this book is a favorite read for me, it was definitely thought provoking! It did demonstrate the paralyzing effects of bail and fees/fines for the poverty-stricken, as well as depicting the fact that modern-day mass incarceration is simply a capitalist updated version of slavery for free/nearly free labor and to further oppress/subjugate those who are not “white.”
POPSUGAR: #13, #15, #16, #27, #28
52 Book Club: #4, #11, #13, #18, NEW #33

Documenting later!
*What the Cat Dragged In (Cat in the Stacks #14) by Miranda James ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was yet another stupendously enjoyable installment in this series! James’ characterization and character development is what draws me in and keeps me enthralled with each book in this series! Plus, a solid mystery! His family has expanded in unexpected ways in this book! I know I’ll be disappointed once I am current with this series, but there are many other series I enjoy just as much!
POPSUGAR: #3, #9, #13, #15, #27
52 Book Club: #4, #16, #26, #28, #35, #38, #48, #49

*Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum
POPSUGAR:
52 Book Club:

*The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré I am so thankful I was not born into a society like this!!
POPSUGAR:
52 Book Club:

CONTINUING:
*Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez is rather fascinating. I keep wondering exactly where/how this will end…
*Hope on the Inside by Marie Bostwick is not what I was expecting! Bostwick is so savvy at connecting titles…
*Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power by RebeccaSolnit
*East of Eden by John Steinbeck
*The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
*The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong for an IRL book club meeting
*The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

PLANNED:
The Favorites by Layne Fargo for prompt #17 A book about your favorite event in the Winter Olympics.
*The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez
*What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
*For Rouenna by Sigrid Nunez
*Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict
*The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley
*The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
*The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

Doni wrote: "QotW: Can I add my own question? How much do you guys read each day? Lately, I have been trying to limit my reading to two hours each day so that I get more other stuff done. (Though if I'm up past midnight, it's a free-for-all.)"
If I didn't play games on my phone, it would probably be at least 4-5 hours. But since I do play games on my phone, it probably averages 2-3 hours per day. It seems much of my time is consumed by appointments, making appointments, grocery shopping, etc. *sigh* But then I am gone 6-7 hours total 3 days a week to teach/workout in the gym. That's a lot of time, but I credit it and the nutrition system I use with keeping me mobile!!

Happy Thursday!

Finished:
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole - 4 stars - for a love story that defies social boundaries. This was a romance between two Union spies during the US Civil War: a Black woman undercover as a slave and a white man undercover as a Confederate soldier. The author didn't shy away from the horrors facing slaves and free Blacks during that time. I liked both of the characters. Although it started a bit too insta-lust for my taste, the relationship by the end was good.

Comics & manga:
The Ancient Magus' Bride Vol. 21

Currently reading:
Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean - for a book inspired by a real song, album, band, or artist. I don't know if it's actually inspired by the song, but it's named after the song, so that's good enough for me.

Upcoming/Planned:
Books & Bewitchment by Isla Jewell - not currently for a prompt.

QOTW:
I didn't care for the super-specific 2025 prompts (soccer, run club), a book you have always avoided reading, or the AI prompt one. I honestly didn't mind most of them. I think my favorite prompts were the overlooked woman in history and the highly anticipated read of 2025.

To answer Doni's question, I usually read during my lunch break for about an hour, and then sometimes in the evening I'll read for 30 minutes to an hour before bed. On slow workdays, I'll sometimes read a little bit more to fill my time during the day.

I wish it was still snowing! The Olympics have really thrown off my reading. I *love* the Winter Games, so my tv has been on pretty much all day.

Currently Reading

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space for "book about female astronauts". This is just horrifying. I am shocked and disgusted at the amount of cover up and posturing that happened leading up to this disaster. Just....ugh!

QotW

Best: Book about a happy, single female protagonist. Need more of that!
Worst: The AI recommendation. I despise the robots.

Re: QOTW: Yeah, I only saw about the Worst prompt, completely missed the Best one. I think it's because I'm finding so many 'worst' this year.

I'm almost finished with The Lost Quilter as my book with a granny hobby. I really like it, but at the same time, I'm ready for it to be over (hoping for a happy ending).

QOTW:
Best: Books on the cover (obviously we all like to read)
a book mentioned in another book, I like the scavenger hunt part of it, but unfortunately I didn't read anything that mentioned any books that I wanted to read and hadn't yet read, so I had to read something that I remembered being mentioned in a book a few yeas ago

Worst: AI recommendation (I got a good rec, but I'm kind of anti-AI)
last sentence (I do the challenge intentionally, not reading and then trying to fill, so I had to read a few last sentences first, and that's not ideal, IMO)

Hi all! Ugh, still sick. I think I'm on the upswing, but with a compromised immune system, even the upswing could take days... I haven't even had the energy to watch the Olympics in several days. We have Peacock, so I want to go back and watch figure skating, but by the time I have the time in the evening, I don't have the energy.

Anyone have any Valentine's Day plans? My kiddo and BF picked Seattle to win the Super Bowl and made me pick New England (I didn't much have a preference), so we could bet on it. The winner got to pick lunch for Saturday, they want Chinese buffet (we haven't been in months). We'll see how I'm feeling, but we do have errands and stuff to do, so it would work.

I haven't done much reading this week. I think I managed 1 more chapter in Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin and that's it.

QOTW: I didn't mind the <3*, I read uncommon books, but I wouldn't want it again. I didn't get around to reading the prompts I really liked. This often happens, the prompts I really like I want to find the perfect book for, and often find nothing! Ha. I liked the POC joy, cult, nature as antagonist, and overlooked woman.
The prompts I wound up disliking (beyond running and soccer) were ones that I thought I would fill without even trying, like unlikely friendship, found family or adult who changed careers.

On a good day, I'll read for half an hour or more. Most days, I read no books (but loads of news' stories) or maybe just a few pages. I don't have the energy like I used to, and I am definitely a victim of a greatly diminished attention span.

Maybe we need a thread somewhere where we can suggest ideas for QOTW? Since we can't message the mods to suggest things anymore.

Greetings from NYC where the frozen mounds of snow and ice that have lingered for weeks as temps stay well below freezing are finally starting to melt as temps rise and stay above freezing (except at night). When I was out yesterday, you could see rivulets of water running out from under the drifts, and apartment building staff out breaking up the melting mounds. There are a number of cards completely iced in - these are the times I am very happy that I rely on public transportation.

It's been a sad few days. I learned that a friend's husband succumbed to a long battle with cancer and also that my mentor, the man who had such an influence on my career and how I handle myself as a lawyer, died after a short illness. He would have reached 90 in April. It's been a week of funerals and shiva calls, but also a week see and reminiscing with those who share the same memories leading to great stories, laughter, and more. Frankly, it's been like this all year, very much a reminder that not only have I moved on in years, but so have all those I know!

PS - 12/52. ATY - 15/52

Finished:
Stalking Ground - excellent K-9 detective thriller - Prompt PS about a horse - the plot is driven by race horse doping - close enough for me. ATY prompt - author's sophomore book.
Jar City - nordic noir and excellent introduction to Erlendur, a CID Inspector in Reykjavik. Prompts ATY - Science - genetics and birth defects huge in the plot; PS - postpartum - two secondary characters experience it and it's actually identified with one - not a book about per se but it is related to the plot and good enough for me.
Freshwater - difficult and not particularly easy reading, until you learn it's autobiographical fiction and a bit about Igbo spiritualism and culture, plus something about the author. Very interesting and beautiful at times, painful and tragic, ultimately ending in a good place. Makes you think. @Nadine - saw your review and totally got your reaction. There are many layers and meaning here - a book that rewards if you give it a chance. It was author's debut and since has written very very different genres and styles of books. ATY - Prompt book genre starting with an A - AutoFiction/ Autobiographical Fiction. PS prompt - curly hair (it's mentioned multiple times) but also transgender or binary would fit perfectly.

Currently reading:
Heated Rivalry
When a Duchess Says I Do
The Bat

QOTW: At this point I've put last year out of my mind! But glancing back - as always, I'm surprised by just how much of the challenge I manage to complete just from my unplanned style of reading (last night for example, the nordic noir I happen to be reading right now provided me with my zodiac sign reference - because the owner of a new age shop the detective is questioning suggested a stone based on his being a Leo - what luck!), but also I am surprised at the ones that I figure will be among the first I complete during the year yet have me scrambling at the end.

Good surprise was that I had more than one option early in the year for marriage where they didn't live together, and that Agatha Christie challenge read gave me the left-hand character. The not so good surprise was that none of my casual reading gave me an overlooked woman in history (unlike the multiple options that I would have had in 2024 for this), that is until for other reasons I decided to read Wide Sargasso Sea in DECEMBER! Which was one of my top 10 reads too. Another difficult one was the neurodivergent author one -- until I finally double checked meaning of neurodivergent and discovered that dyslexia fit and I thus had several Agatha Christie reads from the 2025 AC Challenge to pop in.

Hi all! Had to use a sick day today- I was feeling not great yesterday, then woke up this morning and thought no way can I be at my computer today. Spent most of the day lying down and napping, and I'm feeling better. May take a walk to get some fresh air, hoping to feel less run down.

Currently at 14/50 for the challenge- but have to say, overall I've been liking the books I'm reading this year way less than last year. Maybe last year I was overly generous with the 5-stars, but most of the stuff I'm reading this year, even books I had high expectations for, are a bit of a let down. Maybe I'm just in a hater mood.

Finished:
Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey- a reread because I want to continue on with the series. A cute fun time
-college

Holy Boy- I really thought I'd love this one- a weird book about parasocial relationships and obsession. I did not. It seemed like the author had all these ideas, but didn't know what to do with them. What a letdown
-about a pop star

Currently reading:
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler – A Biography of the Visionary Science Fiction Writer and Black Power Voice- this is a pretty straightforward biography that focuses more on Buttler's writing than her life. It's fine

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop- only a little ways in, so no real opinions yet

QotW:
My least favorite were the prompt about the cults and space tourism- mainly because I thought they would be easy and hated everything I tried to read for them. Also didn't like the AI rec, but I just ignored that, and let goodreads recommend something

Favorite prompts: happily single woman- was the push I needed to read The Teller of Small Fortunes, and interconnected short stories- love this type of book and it lead to my favorite book of the year Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space: A Literary Mixtape

Very slow reading week this week I'm afraid and neither of the two I did finish made me particularly happy.

To be fair Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia Butler & Damian Duffy (for PS 50 A book about Afrofuturism) is good but damn it's depressing. I read the novel 30 years ago and right now is when that novel was set (near SF genre) and it's so dystopic (and a little too close to the truth) Not sure I'd recommend it

A friend asked me how do you actually know when it comes to PS 42 A book inspired by a real song, album, band, or artist? I thought yeah I don't know and I have no intentions of reading through tons of articles to find who really did base it on a song or who just ripped off cool lyrics/titles. I went with When the Moon Hits Your Eye By john Scalzi because I love that old song and I like Scalzi. I didn't like this. It was weird, slow and way too many characters. Definitely a YMMV novel

QOTW

Best of 2025

A book you got for free because it was easy
A book containing magical creatures that aren't dragons - I love fantasy

A book that fills a 2024 prompt you'd like to do over (or try out) again because it's easy

A book with a happily single woman protagonist
. A book about an overlooked woman in history
A book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out

I just feel like we need more of all three of those


Worst
. book you have always avoided reading - If I avoided a book it's probably for a good reason so why would I want to read it

book where the main character is a politician - speaking of things to avoid

. A book about soccer - I'm so over the sports books

A book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book - When I realize that anything GR recs is an AI chatbot it was easy but I am very anti using AI for everything so...

A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads - so the best you could hope for is to find a new book unreviewed or you got to read something mediocre

A book about a run club -again with the sports

Kate wrote: "Re: QOTW: Yeah, I only saw about the Worst prompt, completely missed the Best one. I think it's because I'm finding so many 'worst' this year."

I know what you mean

I finally finished one of my in-progress books (hooray!). Alas, I couldn't figure out a prompt to use it for. I continue to not want to use the freebie prompt (a book you were hoping would fit into a prompt but doesn't) so early in the year. We'll see how long I continue to resist using it. I'm at 1/40 and 0/10 for this challenge and now at 4/75 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Finished:
* My Own Words written by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and narrated by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Linda Lavin with archival audio from Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Martin Ginsburg. Audiobook was the perfect format for this one!

Currently Reading:
* The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries edited by Michael Sims;
* All Fours by Miranda July;
* Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin;
* Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach; and,
* These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant.

QotW:
Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect: what were the best and worst challenge categories of 2025? (In your opinion, of course) For me, the best category of 2025 was "A book about a POC experiencing joy and not trauma" and the worst was a tie between "A book you want to read based on the last sentence" and "A book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book." That said, I ended up turning the AI chatbot prompt into a game for myself and tweaked my questions I asked the chatbot until I got recommendations for books that I owned. I ended up really trying to give it a challenge by giving it a list of 10 books I love that were all over the place in terms of genre and got a response that commented on my eclectic reading taste before providing me with recommendations. So maybe that one wasn't the worst because of that 🤣

Happy Thursday!

I finished 2 books - interestingly, I gave them both 5 stars and I rarely give 5 stars. Hidden Pictures was so creative with the artwork. The idea of selling your soul to the devil has been done so many times, but the Canadian twist was great.

I finished both a movie and a book related to the Olympics. I feel bad because I'm not watching the Olympics. I don't like it when it's so many time zones away that events are happening while I'm at work. It's not the same rewatching it when you already heard on the news who won. And neither bobsled nor curling are my favourite Olympic events. Figure skating is, but most books and movies are romances. So, I turned both prompts into just an Olympic event.

inished:

The Black Bonspiel of Willie MacCrimmon
Popsugar prompt: A book about your favorite event in the Winter Olympics
ATY prompt: A book you want to read because of something you read in 2025

Hidden Pictures
Popsugar prompt: (redacted for spoiler reasons)
ATY prompt: A book involving survival

Series - 0/12
Number 1s - 0/10
Nobel laureates - 0/5
Rocky Horror challenge: 1/12

PS - 6/30
ATY - 4/45
PS movies - 6/50

Currently reading:
Murtagh - 85%
The Book of Lost Tales 1 - 20% - on hold
Quo Vadis - 25%
In Cold Blood - 55%
James - 40%

PopSugar movies:
A movie about your favorite event in the Winter Olympics - Cool Runnings

QOTW: I ended up doing 45 prompts. The ones I missed were:

A book about space tourism - I dislike SF
A book where the main character is a politician - no interest
A book that includes a nonverbal character - couldn't find a book I wanted to read
A dystopian book with a happy ending = Again, I'm tired of SF

A book about a nontraditional education - I was reading a great book as a buddy read, but we couldn't get it finished.

The prompt I enjoyed the most was A book about an overlooked woman in history because it made me read The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

Checking in for weeks:

Completed:
The Safekeep Used for all 4 major challenges
PS: Character with a hidden past
52: Won an award last year
ATY: Award winner
Read harder: Intersex author

Plainsong. I loved this book and used it for 2 challenges
PS: Dad is caregiver
52: no quotation marks
ATY: n/a
RH: n/a

Currently reading:
The Secret Garden
North and South
The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir
True to Form

QOTW:
fave prompts:
Book in title
Book mentioned in another book
Set by water
Healing fiction
2 books/same title

I did not mind the less the 3 stars prompt and enjoyed the book I read. I felt some of the low reviews were for dumb reasons, people did not like one sentence in the book and gave it 1 star because of it. Also I tend to enjoy books people didn't like and often don't like books others loved (The Women, Atmosphere)

Worst prompts:
Dystopia with happy ending: The book I read was all right but I don't generally like scifi
Space tourism: totally cheated and read a Hitchhiker's book
Soccer
Luxury resort

Happy Thursday, everyone! They changed my work hours so now I get to attend our library's book club. I've always been curious to see how these clubs are run as I've never been in one. I'm glad I joined because I quite enjoyed it! It's always nice to meet fellow readers from my own community.

This past week I read 4 books. I'm focusing on completing the last of the ATY Winter challenge prompts since that ends once February is over. Hoping to cross some of them off during their Read-a-thon next week.

2025 Reading Challenges
PopSugar- 17/50
ATY- 19/52; Winter- 10/14; 23/24
52 Book Club- TBA; Mini-Challenges- 2/3
Read Good- 8/13
Buzzword- 2/12; Cover- 4/12
GR Bookmarks- 7/12
BOTM- 6/15; Omnivoreader- 5/6; Long Hauler- 2/4; Debut Darling- 2/5

1001 Books- 2/20
TBR- 7/50

Finished
America Is Not the Heart- this was on my Goodreads TBR since it was first published and after reading America Is in the Heart, I thought it would be the perfect time to pick this up. Overall, I thought it was a solid multi-generational immigrant story. It was good, just don't think it will stick with me. ☆☆☆
PS #13- a book featuring a character with a hidden past
ATY #4- a book by a new-to-you author
ATY Winter- THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
TBR #6

Murder on Astor Place- read this for my library's book club. Going in, I was expecting a cozy mystery, so the disturbing twists kind of took me by surprise. It was a solid mystery, although I did correctly guess the murderer early on. ☆☆☆
PS #8- a book about a sexless marriage
ATY #19- a book related to yesterday
52BC Mini-Challenge #2- crime or punishment
Read Good #5- a book published before 2000

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie- In this novel, we get to know the titular Hattie through snapshots of her twelve children’s lives. Each chapter focuses on a different child and almost reads like a short story. I really liked that structure, especially seeing how Hattie’s trauma ripples through each of their lives in different ways. ☆☆☆☆
ATY #9- a book with a number, ordinal, or iterative in the title
ATY Winter #3- twelve drummers drumming

So Long a Letter- I started this book last week but kept getting distracted. I was finally able to lock in and complete it today, and I'm glad I did. It's beautifully written, and I enjoyed reading the narrator's reflections as she deals with the death of her husband, who had left her for a younger second wife. I'm using this for the letters prompt and am switching The Correspondent for the granny hobby prompt. ☆☆☆☆
PS #47- a book told entirely through letters
ATY #8- a book set in Africa, Australia, or Asia
ATY Winter- THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
52BC Mini-Challenge #1- scarlet or letter
Read Good #10- a book in translation
TBR #7
1001 books #2

Currently Reading
The Swan's Daughter

QOTW
Nadine, those were actually the same prompts I disliked from 2025. I didn’t love the last line prompt because I’m always worried about spoilers. The space tourism one was tough for me too since I’m just not into space or astronomy. And the “below 3 stars” prompt wasn’t my favorite since I didn’t love the idea of going in expecting to read a “bad” book. That said, the books I chose ended up being okay. For the last line prompt, I just picked a book I’d already finished (and enjoyed!) that had an intriguing final line.

As for favorites, I really liked the music prompt since I love music and already had several books on my TBR that fit. I also enjoyed the “classic I haven’t read” prompt because I’m always trying to read more classics anyway. And I appreciated the prompts that subverted expectations, like POC experiencing joy, LGBTQ+ not coming out, happily single female protagonist, and a dystopian novel with a happy ending. Those were like nice scavenger hunts to complete.

Doni wrote: "Can I add my own question? How much do you guys read each day?"

On the days that I work, I listen to an audiobook during my commute (1 hour total). I also read an ebook or physical book during my down time at work, which varies from 30min - 2 hours.

Outside of work, I listen to my audiobook while I'm cleaning or working out. I also try to read a physical book before bed, but I haven't been doing this consistently.

In answer to Doni’s question: depends on work. On work days I try to read an hour before bed but don’t always get to. On weekends and short holidays like Monday it’s 2 hours + depending on my mood

During summer vacation and longer winter/spring breaks (I’m a teacher) I read probably 3-4 hours a day and get through a lot of books

Life update: My husband and I have been really enjoying the Winter Olympics. Now that I'm not working, I can just leave the BBC coverage on all day, and I'm loving it. The curling is my favourite for all sorts of reasons - Scottish patriotism, the sportsmanship, the gorgeous Scottish accents... I'm really looking forward to finishing my current e-book (good as it is) so that I can start my curling book for the Winter Olympics prompt.

We also got our carpets fitted this week, so now we can move ahead with a lot of other jobs to get the house ready for sale.

Reading update:

I finished two audiobooks this week, neither of them for any challenge, both by Kerouac, both 3 stars:
Tristessa
Visions of Gerard

Stats:

Popsugar: 0 this week, 12/50 total
Diversity Challenge: 0 this week, 2/14 total
Touch the Rainbow, Read the Rainbow: 0 this week, 2/13 total
Queer Reads Bracket Challenge: 0 this week, 4/7 total
Flowers for Your Shelves: 0 this week, 1/22 total
German Challenge: 0 this week, 5/10 total
Spanish Titles ABC: 0 this week, 1/26 total
French TBR: 0 this week, 1/20 total
Great Big Jewish Literature Challenge: 0 this week, 5/21 total
Anti-Capitalist Inspiration: 0 this week, 12/30 total
Reading About Writing: 0 this week, 3/40 total

All books finished this year: 2 this week, 24 total
DNF or paused this year: 0 this week, 4 total

Challenges completed this year: 0
Challenges in progress (end date in 2026): 4
Challenges in progress (no end date): 7

Currently reading:
Der Zauberberg - PS: book you hoped would fit a prompt; German Challenge: set in a real place in a German-speaking country
The Definitions - probably PS: platonic friendship ; Rainbow: dark blue; Anti-Capitalist Inspiration: political oppression
The Complete Mahabharata #2: Sabha Parva & Vana Parva I - spiritual reading

QOTW: With hindsight, I think the worst prompt of 2025 was probably the AI one, even though I got a good recommendation. It bothered me less at the time because I was required to use AI at work, but now that I'm not using it regularly, I wouldn't use it for leisure. The growing use of AI to replace human creativity has also been worrying me more as it gets more difficult to recognise. The "progress" it has made just in the last six months has been dizzying.

Again, with hindsight, I'm really glad we got "a POC experiencing joy and not trauma" and "LGBTQ+ characters not about coming out". With everything that's going on in the world right now, we need more joy for POC and queer people - and everyone, really, but especially those marginalised groups who are under attack.

Regarding reading time, I think I probably average about 2 hours a day, divided roughly equally between listening and conventional reading.

Good morning, everyone! Happy Friday!

This has been a rather stressful week, which is why I am posting later than normal.

I had my annual eye exam on Tuesday morning, which is not normally a source of anxiety. This time, however, I found out that the medication I’ve been taking for my migraines could have a negative impact on the pressure in my eyes (which I didn’t even know was a thing). My eye doctor was extremely concerned that the new medication could cause a condition called Acute Angle-Closure Glaucoma (I already have 1 risk factor for this), which would require emergency surgery to correct if it developed, and which could do considerable harm to my vision. My options were basically to either stop taking the medication, or schedule a preventative surgical procedure called a Laser Peripheral Iridotomy (LPI). Since I really don’t want to undergo that particular experience, I decided to stop the medication.

Fortunately, I had my follow-up appointment with my neurologist scheduled for Thursday morning. After getting her caught up on what the eye doctor had said, she also wanted to change my medication. I will be starting a new migraine prevention medicine this evening, so hopefully there won’t be any side effects apart from some sleepiness, which is what I’ve been told to expect.

On the allergy side of things, I got impatient enough to call the allergist’s office yesterday morning, and it turned out to be a good thing that I did. Apparently the pictures I sent them last week were never added to my file. The allergist did look at everything yesterday though, and has sent in an order for me to have bloodwork done. I plan to get that taken care of on Monday. Once they receive those results, I should finally have some answers about my food allergies.

As far as reading is concerned, this has been a pretty good week. Most of my reading is being done during commercial breaks while I watch the Olympics, so I haven’t done nearly as much reading as I would during a normal week. That’s okay though. I’ve really been enjoying the Olympic Winter Games.

Just like in previous updates, I am continuing to mark the books that were Christmas gifts with a tree emoji (🎄) in the sections below. Of the 9 books I was gifted for Christmas, I currently have 1 left to read.

Here are my current challenge and TBR totals…

Goodreads Challenge: 21/250
Mount TBR Challenge: 11/150

📚Physical TBR: 10/462
📱Ebook TBR: 1/161
🎧Audiobook TBR: 0/1
TBR Checklist Total: 11/624 (1% complete)

TBR Books DNFed in 2026: 0

I did pick up a new release this week, which was Operation Bounce House, by Matt Dinniman. I’m really looking forward to reading this one!

“New” Books Bought in 2026: 16
“New” Books Read in 2026: 9
“New” Books DNFed in 2026:
“New” Books Checklist Total: 9/16 (56% complete)

Here are the books I finished this week…

Finished Reading (Fiction):
~Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die — This was an entertaining read. I thought the book had a great premise, and it made me laugh out loud several times. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like the main character all that much. I found him really shallow, which made it hard for me to get invested in his relationship with the “Mad Sorcerer.” 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
~Moving Pictures — This is the tenth book in the Discworld series. While I would not say that this is one of my favorite books in the series, I did think that it was very clever, and really enjoyed all of the classic film references. 📚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
~Slayers of Old — I thought this was a good story, and really liked the characters. Content Alert: (view spoiler)[ This book does include animal harm and deaths (including references to animal sacrifice). (hide spoiler)] 📚🎄: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
None

Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
None

Finished Reading (Poetry and Drama):
None

DNFed:
None

Currently Reading:
~NIV Audio Bible — This audiobook edition of The Bible is read by David Suchet. I currently have just under 30 hours remaining. 🎧
~The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien: Three-Volume Box Set — I am currently about halfway through the first volume of this 3-volume set. I’ve been taking an extended break from this book, but plan to resume reading it over the weekend. 📚
~Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche — I did have a chance to get back into this book earlier this week, and I’m finding it really interesting. I’m currently a third of the way through it, and hope to make it to the halfway point later today. 📚
~Enchantra — This is the second book in the Wicked Games duology. I’m really enjoying this story, probably because it’s reminding me of one of my favorite horror movies, Ready or Not. I’m currently a little less than 60% of the way through this one, and will definitely be finishing it today. 📚

QOTW:
I didn’t do last year’s challenge, so I didn’t have first-hand experience with any of the prompts.

Jennifer W wrote: "Maybe we need a thread somewhere where we can suggest ideas for QOTW? Since we can't message the mods to suggest things anymore."



good idea

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Happy Friday! I'm enjoying the Olympics so far. Of course speedskating, it hasn't been so exciting for decades (because we (Team NL) won everything which is not exciting). But I also enjoyed the downhill skiing and figure skating.

Read this year: 7
Finished this week: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Not bad (of course, it's TJR), but too much space stuff for me to really like it
Popsugar #5, female astronauts

QOTW
I skipped the challenge last year, so no comment.

Doni's question: I read every day before bed, sometimes half an hour, sometimes an hour.

Megan wrote: "I ended up turning the AI chatbot prompt into a game for myself and tweaked my questions I asked the chatbot until I got recommendations for books that I owned. ..."

LOL that's kind of what I did, too! I kept asking questions until it recommended a book I wanted to read anyway but couldn't find another category for it.




Erin wrote: "Hi all! Had to use a sick day today- I was feeling not great yesterday, then woke up this morning and thought no way can I be at my computer today. Spent most of the day lying down and napping, and..."

I also expected to love that book, and ended up disappointed. It was all over the place. Hope you're feeling better!




Theresa wrote: "Freshwater - difficult and not particularly easy reading, until you learn it's autobiographical fiction and a bit about Igbo spiritualism and culture ..."



Yeah that book blew me away, the author seemed to come out of nowhere with this amazing creation. I haven't been as impressed with their other books, the romance did not work for me at all so I've become reluctant to pick up their new books.

Megan wrote: "I finally finished one of my in-progress books (hooray!). Alas, I couldn't figure out a prompt to use it for. I continue to not want to use the freebie prompt (a book you were hoping would fit into..."

I assume you're talking about the RBG book? Use it for platonic friendships? As a woman in a heavily male-dominated field, I'm guessing she had several male friends over the years.

Happy Galentine's day! At the moment I'm lucky if I get half an hour reading before I fall asleep on my book. I go into the office three days a week and get about 1.5 hours of audio a day on my commute. In calmer times I try and read for a couple of hours a day. At the moment most my reading is at the weekend.

Just one book finished this week but it was a good one:
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. I loved that this was a magical school story told from the teacher's point of view. It's about teaching as much as it is about demons.

QOTW
I only completed half of the prompts last year and didn’t even get to some of my faves. I was excited about space tourism then never read the book I picked. The AI one was the worst on principle.

So excited to have Monday off for a long weekend. My company did a round of layoffs yesterday representing 3% of our workforce yesterday, which always puts me in a damper mood, so need the time and space this weekend to recharge and decompress.

8/70 GoodReads Challenge
8/50 PopSugar Challenge
8/52 ATY Challenge

Finished:
1.) The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (#20-Pilates) ⭐⭐⭐⭐: I adored these core characters, but there were slightly too may plot twists and secondary characters it made me a little confused by the end.

2.) Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach (#9-C Character) ⭐⭐⭐: I liked this, but felt heavy and I found myself not wanting to pick it back up.



Currently Reading:
1.) The House on Endless Waters
2.) My Husband's Wife



QoTW: Now that you’ve had a few weeks to reflect: what were the best and worst challenge categories of 2025?

Worst: Rated less than 3 stars, Run Club, Politician MC, Food Truck, Neurodivergent Author, Avoided reading,

Best: Nature Antagonist, Magical Creatures, About a Cult, Got for Free

Hello, y’all.

Today is Friday. I did consider posting yesterday but wanted to complete two books that were so close to being finished.

Life is moving along. Darla and I are finding our level for living together. And I chose to take a day off from exercise this past week and spent it in pajamas all day and did nothing productive. I also finished up a bunch of library books that I had in progress.

Finished:

Seven Black Stones – PAS. 4*. No prompt. Mystery with native American based story.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – PAS, ATY #4 (new to you author). 5*. What a fun story!

The Orchard – PAS. 4*. A sad life that turns out to be a memoir. Could be used for a new beginning…over and over again.

Wild Sign - Audible. Continuation of series. No prompt. 4*

The Story of Ferdinand – PS #49 (Zodiac sign). 4*

Currently Reading:

Santa Fe Dead – PAS. 17%

The Last Suppers – PAS. 16%

For Love of Livvy – PAS. 33%

Spiritual Reading:
The Heart of Stillness, the Elements of Spiritual Practice – Devotional reading. 33%

PS 7/50
ATY 13/52, Seasonal 5/14
GR 24/200

QotW: 2025 best and worst prompts?

I ended the year with 8 prompts unread. Two prompts (free and unread classic) I own books for. Two prompts (happily single woman and music) I have already read thus far in this year. The other four will probably be finished over time, since that is my inclination (to finish unfinished plans), but none are really exciting to me (politician, last sentence, chronic pain, and space tourism).

I particularly liked the overlooked woman prompt, the healing fiction prompt, and the two with same title. For the overlooked woman, I read Grandma Gatewood’s Walk. I was amazed by this woman and had not known about her prior to the book. The healing fiction was a surprise. It turns out that I had Deerskin on my Kindle for several years and found it immensely healing – even though the trauma was not my own. Finally, I read Shaman by two different authors who covered the same time frame from two different perspectives…a white medical man who owned the ranch that was part of the other story – a medicine man. I am really not doing those two stories much justice…but the interception of the two stories was impressive to me. And, both were books that I owned for quite some time.

Re. Doni's question:

I don't really know how much time I spend reading. I generally try to read during the morning when my mind is clearest. Reading in the afternoon and evening just does not work well for me unless I am deeply involved in the story. However, I also schedule classes and appointments during the morning, if possible, so that eats into any reading time.

I usually listen to an audiobook when running errands but, as I limit my Audible books to just the one a month, once the book is done that way of reading is completed until the next month.

I do have a Kindle, and I can read it at night. But, some book genres do not work well for me in the dark! And night time reading is generally short unless I am having a sleepless night.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Freshwater - difficult and not particularly easy reading, until you learn it's autobiographical fiction and a bit about Igbo spiritualism and culture ..."
Yeah that book blew me away, the author seemed to come out of nowhere with this amazing creation. I haven't been as impressed with their other books, the romance did not work for me at all so I've become reluctant to pick up their new books. ..."

Freshwater was a catharsis book, a book she had to write. Not necessarily a book that was going to reflect where she wanted to be as a writer. It looks as if what she has since written is primarily YA in a more SFF world, and though reflective of what she wants to explore and her beliefs, they are not of the same world as her first.

She was part of a panel at NYCC in October that one of my bookclub friends and I attended. She knocked our socks off to be honest, and my friend won a copy of her latest book, first in a series, that had not yet been published. She's read it and liked it a lot. I think I'll try that out before her back list as it is adult not YA. I am really not the audience for YA, and am too often disatisfied.