Joanna’s Comments (group member since Dec 27, 2013)

Joanna’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

Happy Monday! I hope everyone's week has been off to a fantastic start.

Quick update - my hope is to have the Quarter 3 Take It or Leave It challenges up by Wednesday next week. So please be on the lookout for those. Thank you again for your patience.

What is everyone reading this week? Over the weekend, I finished Arch-Conspirator which I enjoyed. I don't know if I picked up on all it's nuance and what it was trying to convey but I think you can still enjoy a story regardless. Still working my way through The Treason of Isengard and hoping to start Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood. Lauren is going to be our keynote speaker at FantaSci this year so if you're not doing anything, come out this weekend - she'll be here Saturday at 1:00pm and it's going to be a great time.

Happy reading!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope your July is going well and that you had a nice holiday last week.

What is everyone reading this week? I started Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth. It's a novella based on the story of Antigone. So far it's been pretty good. I'm not as familiar with the Antigone myth but that hasn't affected my enjoyment of it. It is funny to me that I've avoided Roth's most popular series, Divergent, but keep reading her adult books. I'm also still currently listening to Andy Serkis read The Silmarillion which has been amazing. That man was born to read Tolkien's work.

Happy reading!

Happy Halfway, everyone!!!! Week 26 always feels like it sneaks up on me. But here we are! Halfway through the year and halfway through our challenge! Thank you to everyone who is participating! I hope you're meeting your goals, finding wonderful books to dive into, and having a fun time.

A quick update about next quarter's Take It or Leave It challenges. They are going to be posted late. How late, I don't know. But I wanted to let you all know so when you don't see new challenges in Beanstack, you didn't panic. Though it just hit me, I can give them to you here in the meantime. Lol.

These are Quarter 3's Take It or Leave It Challenges - if you complete any before I can update Beanstack, just make a note of which one and book title and add it to the badge when they're up.

o 4th of July - Read a book about a historical event in America
o National Hispanic Heritage Month - Read a book celebrating the American Latino community
o Red cover - Read a book with a red cover
o Science Fiction - Read a science fiction book
o Fantasy - Read a fantasy book
o Back to School - Read a book that takes place at a school
o 4 Words - Read a book with a four word title
o Banned Books Week - Read a book that has been banned
o Book to Movie - Read a book that was turned into a movie or tv show
o And the Award Goes to… - Read a book that has won an award
o Reread - Read a book you’ve already read before

What is everyone reading this week? I've actually been listening to an audiobook! They announced a couple months ago that Andy Serkis would be narrating The Silmarillion and with two of my favorite persons/books combined, I had to get it. It's been amazing so far. I'm also happy to finally be learning proper pronunciation of all those names haha. Other books this week include The Dream Thieves, book 2 of the Raven Cycle, and probably more manga.

Happy Halfway!!

Happy Halfway, everyone!!!! Week 26 always feels like it sneaks up on me. But here we are! Halfway through the year and halfway through our challenge! Thank you to everyone who is participating! I hope you're meeting your goals, finding wonderful books to dive into, and having a fun time.

A quick update about next quarter's Take It or Leave It challenges. They are going to be posted late. How late, I don't know. But I wanted to let you all know so when you don't see new challenges in Beanstack, you didn't panic. Though it just hit me, I can give them to you here in the meantime. Lol.

These are Quarter 3's Take It or Leave It Challenges - if you complete any before I can update Beanstack, just make a note of which one and book title and add it to the badge when they're up.

o 4th of July - Read a book about a historical event in America
o National Hispanic Heritage Month - Read a book celebrating the American Latino community
o Red cover - Read a book with a red cover
o Science Fiction - Read a science fiction book
o Fantasy - Read a fantasy book
o Back to School - Read a book that takes place at a school
o 4 Words - Read a book with a four word title
o Banned Books Week - Read a book that has been banned
o Book to Movie - Read a book that was turned into a movie or tv show
o And the Award Goes to… - Read a book that has won an award
o Reread - Read a book you’ve already read before

What is everyone reading this week? I've actually been listening to an audiobook! They announced a couple months ago that Andy Serkis would be narrating The Silmarillion and with two of my favorite persons/books combined, I had to get it. It's been amazing so far. I'm also happy to finally be learning proper pronunciation of all those names haha. Other books this week include The Dream Thieves, book 2 of the Raven Cycle, and probably more manga.

Happy Halfway!!

Susan wrote: "Susan wrote: "Question : in the take it or leave it on Beanstack, I didn’t put the title of the book in the box and I can’t seem to edit it. Is there a way to do this?"


Hi Joanna! It was the LGBT..."

Perfect! Thank you, Susan!

And it's all good! :)

Susan wrote: "Question : in the take it or leave it on Beanstack, I didn’t put the title of the book in the box and I can’t seem to edit it. Is there a way to do this?"

Hi, Susan! No, unfortunately, there isn't a way to edit the badge once you've clicked out of it. But that's okay! What badge was it and what was your book title? I'll make a note that there was supposed to be a title in there. :)

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Summer is basically upon us! Are we all ready? This year, there is no Summer Reading per se for adults or teens. Our summer reading is built into the two year long reading programs (Book Quest for adults and Slay the Stacks for teens). For the littles, there is a paper log they can pick up at any Chesapeake branch. They can set a goal each week and when they meet that goal, they can bring the log in for a sticker (one sticker per week). At the end, they will turn in the log to be entered into the grand prize.

Do you have any summer reads you are looking forward to? Or books that you associate with summer? A friend and I are going to buddy read The Raven Cycle during the summer and I’m really looking forward to that.

Happy reading!

Happy Tuesday! Did everyone have a nice holiday? I know it was a bit windy and a little rainy, but hopefully everyone enjoyed the time off.

What is everyone reading this week? I'm trying to finish two books before the month ends - The Whispering Skull and That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human. We'll see if I can do it. I had plans unexpectedly get cancelled tonight so now I have a few extra reading hours (I'm both sad and happy the plans got cancelled lol). I've also started reading the next History of Middle-Earth book, The Return of the Shadow. I am determined to finish this series this year. I got really close two years ago and then stopped.

Happy reading!

Hello, everyone! How has everyone been doing the last couple of weeks? Didn't Janice do an amazing job? She is the absolute best.

Tell me about all the books you've been reading. Have you read anything spectacular? Anything you'd definitely recommend? What are you reading currently?

To the surprise of no one, I read almost nothing on my trip. Lol. This despite bringing 6 ebooks and 5 physical books. The only time I read was on the plane home; whenever we were on the Underground or on a train, I was either napping or staring off into space. England was wonderful, though, and we saw so many cool sites. Ten days is not enough time to explore all there is, even in just London.

Also to the surprise of no one, I brought back... a lot of books. I didn't ever actually count but for fun I weighed my backpack at the airport (in which were all the books I bought). It came to a lovely 16.4 lbs. Add to that the books I brought that were in my checked luggage and you get the idea. In my defense, I wandered into a Waterstones (sort of their Barnes and Noble) and my family "lost" me. It's also not my fault that the UK generally has better covers than we do.

I've been reading since we got home, though. My roommate got me hooked on Lockwood & Co so I've started the book series - finished book 1 The Screaming Staircase. It was so good. They also adapted it pretty perfectly for the tv show. I also started a non-fiction book about Jane Austen, Jane Austen at Home, which was good. Now I'm working on a reread of The Thief and The Lost Road and Other Writings.

Happy reading!

Happy Monday! Hope your week has been off to a great start.

What is everyone reading this week? I am rushing to finish The Return of the King before I leave on Wednesday. I'm very close - only 75 pages left. Then depending on how the start of this trip goes, I'll probably start my reread of The Queen's Thief series and maybe The Hobbit.

Bon voyage, my fellow book lovers! I look forward to "seeing" you in two weeks! You all are in wonderful hands with Janice!

Ingrid wrote: "I just finished The Nightingale.
Normally this would not be a book I wanted to read because the topic haunts me, but I couldn’t put it down. Finished it in three days. So well written.
I can only..."

Books that make me cry aren't my favorite either. I prefer my stories to be happy. But I do see the importance of those books!

Thank you, everyone, for your warm welcome of Janice! I'm very excited to have her on board, helping with Book Quest.

Part of the reason Janice is joining us here on Goodreads is because I'm going to be gone for two weeks and she's going to help ensure the weekly threads keep moving along. In the past, I've done them from my vacation but this time, I don't know what sort of internet access I'll have.

I'm very excited to say that I'll be in England for those two weeks. This trip is sort of a dream come true. I had to postpone our original trip and now finally it's time. Of course I'm doing all the touristy things but this trip is also about the bookish destinations. I'm going to the British Library and to see Jane Austen's house. We're going to take a tour of the Globe Theater. And the only other city besides London I'm going to is Oxford - where Tolkien taught. We have a tour about him and Lewis scheduled and of course a tour of the Bodleian Library. There's so many bookish things to see and do in England and I sadly couldn't fit them all in (I wanted to go to Whitby Abbey which is featured in Dracula but it was just too far out of our way). But I'm really happy with where we're going.

Do you have any bookish destinations you hope to travel to someday? Whether cities or houses or places special to the author? Or are there places from a book you really want to go see? Tell us about them!

Janice wrote: "Hi, everyone! My name is Janice and I'm an Information Specialist with the library. I will be helping Joanna out with the challenge this year.

I thought it would be fun to get to know everyone by ..."

Welcome, Janice!! We're so happy to have you on board.

My favorite genre is definitely fantasy - I love new worlds and new peoples, magic and powers, and epic clashes between good and evil (though I'll also take all those morally grey characters too haha).

Happy dreary Monday, everyone! Hope your week is off to a great start. What is everyone reading this week? I started Radio Silence by Alice Oseman and I’m loving it so far. I was worried I’d only like her as a graphic novel author/artist, but her prose is just as good. I’m also hoping to knock out some manga this week, specifically the rest of Phantom Tales of the Night. Also started the next History of Middle-Earth book, The Shaping of Middle-Earth.

Happy reading!

Happy Monday, everyone! What are you reading this week? Did you finish any good books over the weekend?

I finished a teen horror book, Dead Flip, over the weekend. I was looking for something that gave me Stranger Things vibe and this definitely hit the spot. While there were some things I didn't like about it (the book surprisingly felt too short and could have used a few extra pages to explain some things in more detail), I enjoyed all the 80s/90s references and am always here for friend groups. Now I'm reading The Beast of Beswick because I cannot resist a Beauty and the Beast retelling.

Tonight will be a perfect night for curling up under some covers and reading a book! Stay warm!

Happy Monday on this rainy day. The weather still seems determined to not settle one way or the other. And now there's rain (wish it was snow). But rainy days can be perfect for curling up with a good book!

What is your ideal comfy and cozy book reading situation? Is it rainy and curled up under a blanket? Is it sunny and outside? Is it in your bed no matter the weather?

I definitely like a little bit of bad weather (rain, snow) and then curling up under a blanket on the couch with some music. Honestly, the perfect reading day.

What is everyone reading this week? I hope you all have perfect reading days!

Happy March! Anyone else wishing the weather would stop ping-ponging around and make up its mind? Is it spring? Is it winter? Heaven forbid, summer? I just really need it to pick one. However, it is lovely to see the trees in bloom and the flowers.

What is everyone reading this week? What did you read last week? I finally finished almost all the books I was reading! I'm so happy my weird slump is over. I'm still reading Can't Spell Treason Without Tea which I am actually really enjoying (I read ebooks slower than regular books). My biggest complaint is the two narrators sound similar but the story makes up for that. I've also started The Two Towers and The Lays of Beleriand. Finally, I'm reading Beautiful Chaos which is a Doctor Who tie in novel. I'm hoping to meet David Tennant and Catherine Tate at GalaxyCon in a few weeks and that's what I'm going to have them sign (my tradition is for people to sign books vs prints).

Happy reading! Stay warm... or is it cool?

Hello from the middle of the week! How's everyone's week been going so far? What are you currently reading?

My current reads haven't changed from last week. This is partly because I went to a convention up in DC and partly because I've been in this weird state of both not knowing what I want to read (see previous thread) and not being in the mood to read. I'm hoping my motivation returns soon. I miss my books.

Happy reading!

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend and were able to enjoy the nice weather on Saturday.

How many books are you currently reading right now? How many do you try to read at a time? And how many is too many? I ask this because at last count, I'm somehow reading 5 books. Generally, I stick to 3 to 4 depending but I've been in a mood where I don't know what I want to read so I keep picking up books. Oops.

I definitely think, for me personally, five is too many. I bounce between which book I'm reading and finish none of them because I go back to another book. But I'll get there eventually and this mood will go away.

I am enjoying all the books I'm reading at least. Still in the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Book of Lost Tales Pt.2. Also working on Can't Spell Treason without Tea and Hall of Smoke (which might be my first 5 star read of the year). And last night I started The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series because my roommate got HBOMax and we've been binge watching the show.

Happy reading!

I stepped outside today and couldn't remember what month it was. Somehow I missed the forecast for this week was going to be warm! I hope everyone is able to go outside and enjoy some of the nice weather... before the rain and cold show back up.

What has everyone been reading this week? Starting anything new before the week ends? I've been in the middle of a mini-slump so I haven't done any reading. Part of it is I don't know what genre I want. The other part is my brain not wanting to focus. I do have three books started, though- The Book of Lost Tales Part 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Hall of Smoke. Hopefully I'll find motivation tonight to start back up with them.

Happy reading!