Pamela’s
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(group member since Oct 22, 2019)
Pamela’s
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from the VIRTUAL Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 group.
Showing 1-20 of 52
In my attempt read more of what I own than not (and I did that this year!), my goal was towards Mount Munch with 36 books. I crushed that Munch and moved up to the White Plume Mountain. I didn't reach the top (48 books) but got within sight at 44 books read.I'm just here for the fun, and check in, no need for a prize. 😀
Book 44 is The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister.
4 stars, eBook
A group of women are tasked with going into the unmapped Arctic to seek out the men of the British Navy that have not yet returned. Two previous expeditions have been unsuccessful, but perhaps the women may achieve what they could not. Told mostly in alternating time frames, between the court case after they return.
Likely the last book for this year and this climb. It's less than my actual TBR, which I'm happy about! Perhaps a first (at least since tracking the past 8 years).
Book 43 is Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.
3.5 stars, audio book
The first book was much better (Ready Player One). That book was original and surprising, and for a sequel it just can't be unique. Felt like this one was more focused on a few key "referenced works" and not as broad as the first book. Overall it was a good adventure, just not spectacular. Definitely enjoyed Wil Wheaton as the narrator.
Book 42 Joe's Word by Elizabeth Stromme
2.5 stars, print book
The book was odd, the main character Joe is a "Public Writer" and many of his clients are not your average 'Joe'. This is a neighborhood type book. Joe walks from his dingy apartment to his work, where he rents space in a hair salon. We meet various neighborhood characters. Generally I didn't like the book, and should have stopped reading. I'm still learning.
Book 41 Girl Gurl Grrrl: On Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic by Kenya Hunt and a few others.
4 stars, eBook
A book of essays, and there are a few other writers with contributions. Admittedly it confused me at first, not realizing that this book wasn’t solely essays by Kenya Hunt. But I’m glad they were included. What I was looking for, and found here, was more voices of lived experiences.
Running List:----------- Rum Doodle ----------------
January:
1. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
2. Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun
3. Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World by David Owen
4. Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz (audio)
5. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (audio)
February:
6. Becoming by Michelle Obama (audio)
7. The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last by Azra Raza
8. Red Letter Days by Sarah-Jane Stratford
March:
9. Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey
10. Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver
11. The Adventurer's Son by Roman Dial (audio)
April:
12. Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
----------- Mount Crumpit -------------
April:
13. The Quarry Wood by Nan Shepherd
May:
14. My Green Manifesto: Down the Charles River in Pursuit of a New Environmentalism by David Gessner
15. The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-Hernandez (audio)
16. Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran
17. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
18. The Milkman's Son: A Memoir of Family History, a DNA Mystery, and a Story of Paternal Love by Randy Lindsay
June:
19. My Struggle: Book Four by Karl Ove Knausgård
20. The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
21. Roadside Americans: The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation by Jack Reid
July:
22. Slam by Lewis Shiner
23. People of the Canyons: A Novel of North America's Forgotten Past by Kathleen O'Neal Gear & W. Michael Gear
August:
24. Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
----------- Mount Munch --------------
August:
25. Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
26. Coffee by Dinah Lenney
27. Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine
28. With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt
September:
29. Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream by Mychal Denzel Smith
30. The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult
31. Members Only Sameer Pandya (audio)
32. How to Fly: In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons by Barbara Kingsolver
October:
33. Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther by Craig Pittman (audio)
34. The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
November:
35. We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper
36. The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin
----------- White Plume ----------------
November:
37. Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy by Connor Towne O'Neill
38. Fat by Hanne Blank
39. The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline (audio)
40. Political Sign by Tobias Carroll
December:
41. Girl Gurl Grrrl: On Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic by Kenya Hunt
42. Joe's Word by Elizabeth Stromme
43. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (audio)
44. The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister
Well, I crushed the Munch and scaled up the top of Mount Munch in early November, and made good progress since then. With another month to go, may as well attempt to scale White Plume.
Book 40 is Political Sign by Tobias Carroll.
4 stars, eBook
This is another book from the Object Lessons series from Bloomsbury. I like their size and the focus. After the elections I felt I could get into this topic, although it really isn't political at all. A lot more focus on the topic than the author, but there's a bit of him in there as well. I enjoyed it.
At this rate, maybe I should have moved up to the next mountain, I'm still climbing!
Edit: Decided to move to the next mountain: Pamela Plunges ahead to White Plume
Book 39 is The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline.
5 stars, audio book
This is full of tragedy, some expected and some unexpected. There is much about unjust punishment. It is a scathingly look at colonialism and British superiority, along with class and disregard for human life if anyone steps beyond the bounds of their station or duties. It is well written, engaging, captivating, and I found a quick read/listen. Narration was excellent too.
Book 38 is Fat by Hanne Blank.
4 stars, eBook
The book started to cover all aspects of fat, with looking at the scientific and physical properties. Then it moved into the author's own experiences and what she knows from a previous book. It was overall a good, short read. Part of the Object Lessons series from Bloomsbury, that has intrigued me.
Book 37 is Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy by Connor Towne O'Neill.
5 stars, audio book
Took me too long to listen to this timely book. The focus is on Nathan Bedford Forrest and his impact in the south. Many still praise him as a white supremist civil war hero, also claim to fame is first grand wizard of the klan. Ugh! Yet his name has seeped into the south with monuments, and places named for him from parks to streets and more. The focus in on the history and present day, reckoning with all of this, and the attempt at removal.
Book 36 The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin.
3 stars, eBook
Sometime in the possible future a PR guy gets cloned by his company that released a unique drug called Meld. They are intertwined, although different aspects, and it's a bit of a crazy book. The writing was okay but not exceptional.
And with this book I've reached my goal! Certainly will keep reading unowned books this year, but not enough for the next mountain. Just staying here.
Book 35 is We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper.
5 stars, eBook
An intricate dive into the life of Jane Britton, murdered the night before her exams at Harvard. Jane was working towards a Ph.D. in archeology. The book was well written and informative, even about academia. Recommend for anyone interested in true crime.
Book 34 The Cold Millions by Jess Walter.
5 stars, eBook
A well written historical fiction set in the early part of the 20th Century, given a glimpse in one part of the free speech movement in the Pacific Northwest, with the IWW being the main proponents along with an attempt to improve workers wages and working conditions. We get an interesting cast of characters and some of their stories. I really enjoyed this book.
Book 33 Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther by Craig Pittman.
4.5 stars, audio book
Interesting story, and well written book, about the Florida Panthers. They were saved from the brink of extinction and unhealthy with the lack of genetic diversity. Brought in the cougar helped these animals thrive. The book covers many aspects, as one might expect, with saving habitat and development, as well as biologists and their studies. Many surprises! Enjoyed this one.
Book 32 How to Fly: In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons by Barbara Kingsolver.
5 stars, eBook
This was a book of poetry by Kingsolver. I've read several of her novels and this was my first poetry by her (does she have others?). Anyway I enjoyed the book, very readable poems, and for the most part understandable. Many were mini-stories.
Book 31 Members Only Sameer Pandya.
3 stars, audio book
Raj Bhatt created his own disaster at his tennis club, but the next day at his work, was surprised at the student outcry. Students are more vocal these days when they are confronted with ideas that aren't the same as their own. The book is leaning towards discussing cancel culture, but didn't quite get there, but definitely got into race. Raj is not a perfect man by any means, and doesn't handle the worst week ever in the best way. In the end I felt that Raj was not honest to anyone, even himself, and that left me with not enjoying the book enough for a five star. It's okay, but not great.
Book 30 The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult.
5 stars, eBook
Enjoyed this book, despite the topic of death being so front and center. Dawn Edelstein faces her husband’s possible infidelity while also facing up to her own passionate past, along with a profession she left behind in Egyptology. When her plane crashes, escaping her own death as one of the few survivors Dawn’s life is changed. Even though Dawn is a death doula, being that close to her own mortality, made her examine past choices, as anyone might. The best book by Picoult that I've read (so far).
Book 29 Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream by Mychal Denzel Smith.
5 stars, eBook
This is a short book of just a few long essays that have a powerful punch. The book is sharp, intelligent, and well reasoned, as a statement about the most powerful issues the American people are grappling with today, and in the past. Smith covers race, policing, prisons, power men hold over women, the current presidency, and much more. I enjoyed it, learned a few things, and helped see another perspective, which isn't that what reading is about? (at least in part)
Book 28 With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt.
4 stars, eBook
I really enjoyed this relationship book. Maybe it was just a bit better than the string I've read recently, or maybe it was the story. In any case I did like this book, the character development and the bit of what someone may think while in a coma.
