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

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

This week I am working on trying to make a dent in the piles of library books I have on the floor. Finished The Book of Speculation , which was pretty good, earlier this week and finished Donna Bell's Bake Shop last night. I thought that was a nice mix of memoir and cookbook. I also love Pauley Perrette so I'm probably biased. Don't read it while you are hungry, though! You'll want to eat the pictures of the food.

Now working on The Secret History of Wonder Woman (which is more like the not so secret history of Wonder Woman's creator) and My Beloved Brontosaurus (I can't resist a dinosaur book).

Ingrid wrote: "Now I have started The Martian. So far I am hooked!"

I've also heard really good things about The Martian . I'm waiting for it from the library now. Has anyone seen the trailer for the movie they're making of it? I'll be interested to compare the two.

For this week, I finished up Superman and Philosophy which was a pretty good mash-up of pop culture and philosophical concepts. Now I'm working on How to be a Heroine and The Book of Speculation . My family is going out of town so I have six days to read, read, and read.

Vivian wrote: "Joanna, Will do! I started it last night but have only read the first 2 chapters. I think it's going to be good! How far along are you?"

I'm about 100 pages into it. I like it. It's definitely not what I expected but I'm curious to see how everything is going to play out.

Vivian wrote: "...& picked up "The Library at Mount Char" by Scott Hawkins."

Let me know what you think of The Library at Mount Char when you start it, Vivian! I'm reading it right now and would love to talk to someone about it.

I am definitely all for a 52 Book Pick-Up book club! That would be a lot of fun. I don't have any particular book suggestions, though I would like to see a science fiction or fantasy book somewhere in the line up, if possible. :)

For this week, I am rushing to finish Anna Dressed in Blood . Someone is waiting for it but I really wanted to read it. So 316 pages in two days it is. Also still working on The Law of Superheroes and The Library at Mount Char .

Just finished War of the Whales . I was not expecting to like it all that much as I knew it dealt with naval exercises, lawsuits, and government (all topics that I am generally not that interested in). But it actually was a pretty compelling read. The author kept it interesting and interspersed the dry bits with more interesting information (at least for me).
Still working on A Thousand Pieces of You and now I'm going to start another law book The Law of Superheroes .

I finished Alias Hook and Eureka! Discovering Your Inner Scientist yesterday. I'm moving on to Phantom Hitchhikers and Other Urban Legends which looks like it will be a fun book. But I'm having problems deciding on my second book: A Thousand Pieces of You ? Stepdog ? Or Bitter Greens ? Ever have so many books to read you can't decide between them all?

Ann wrote: "I've read all of her Elemental Masters series (the latest- From a High Tower- is a take on Goldilocks), and enjoyed them. She also has..."

Thank you, Ann! I will definitely have to read some of her books.

Cami wrote: "Mercedes Lackey has a whole series of twisted fairy tales."

I have always been curious about Mercedes Lackey. Have you read her books? Are they good? For her twisted fairy tales series, do you have to read them in order or can you just pick up a book here and there?

Liz wrote: "There are tons of books that are rewritten fairy tales; many of them are YA. Off the top of my head..."

Thanks, Liz! I do want to read the Lunar Chronicles as those look intriguing. And of course Goodreads has whole shelves dedicated to retold fairy tales. Lol. Thanks for pointing those out!

Chris wrote: "I just finished my first time read through of "The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" and am now reading "Bearing an Hour Glass" by Piers Anthony. It's book two in the Incarnations of Immortality ..."

Chris and Liz- I've enjoyed reading your conversation about the "Incarnations of Immortality" series. It sounds like a book series that I would also like so I'm putting it on my list. Thanks!

I finished up An Ember in the Ashes and The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins last week. Both were really good, especially Ember . Now I have to wait for the next book which is going to be hard.

This week I am working on Animal Weapons and Eureka! Discovering Your Inner Scientist for non-fiction and Alias Hook for my fiction book. I've really been in the mood for fairy tales retold- anyone have any good suggestions?

I never finished the series, but I definitely want to. I wish she would do more acting because I always loved her portrayal of Cyd. I'm really looking forward to the book!

You should definitely finish it. Have you seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog? She's in that (and sings!). She's also in a couple episodes of Supernatural, where she plays a geeky computer hacker. That's how I was introduced to her.

Have you watched The Guild? I religiously watched that for along time; it's how I was introduced to Felicia Day. I, too, am a big fan and am super excited for her book!

I loved The Guild! I found it randomly one day on Netflix and got hooked. Such a great series. I was disappointed when I found out there would be no more of it. Her writing of dialogue on the show was pretty spot on which is one of the reasons I am so looking forward to her book.

I love Felicia Day so right now the book I am most excited for is her memoir "You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)." It comes out in August and I know it's going to be great.

For this week, I am still working on "An Ember in the Ashes" and "The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins." Ember is great and I highly recommend it.

I thought once school was done that I would have more time for reading. Nope. Between work and interning, I seem to have zero time. Which is sad for me because I have a whole pile of library books to read. Lol.

Still, for this week, I am working on "The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins" plus two YA novels: "Briar Rose" and what seems to be the new popular novel "An Ember in the Ashes."

Liz wrote: "Joanna wrote: " Joanna wrote: "I..."

I just wish CPL had a better collection of the Daredevil graphic novels. I don't think we have any and I would really love to see the inspiration behind the television series.

Joanna wrote: "I..."

Chris, "Daredevil" is amazing. I absolutely love it. The pacing is great, the acting is superb. I can't say enough good things about it. My only complaint is that there are only 13 episodes and no season 2. Enjoy binging it over the weekend!

Liz wrote: "Now that the weather is getting really nice, reading outside should be possible. I love sipping a cold glass of iced tea while a bit of breeze rustles the leaves and my hair as I stretch out on the..."

I absolutely loved "The Golem and the Jinni!" I loved it so much, I went out and bought it after reading the library's copy. Let me know what you think of it as you get more into the story.

For this week, I'm still working on "Meet Me in Atlantis" and "Buzzed." I've been busy with school and now I've gotten distracted by "Daredevil" on Netflix. Television shows- always interfering with reading...

I just finished the fifth volume of the new 52 Batgirl comics. It was pretty decent- I liked the artwork. Now I'm working on "Meet Me in Atlantis" which is one man's journey to find the hidden city and "Buzzed" which is all about drugs (the psychology student in me could not resist).

Ingrid wrote: "I will have to try the Supernatural ones. That is one of my favorite shows."

The library actually has one of the tie-in novels for Supernatural (I was surprised to find it one day while I was checking in books). It's called "Fresh Meat" by Alice Henderson. That one was pretty good. You should definitely check it out. :)

My guilty pleasure are tie-in novels. I love tie-in novels for my favorite shows, movies, and comic book series. I basically have all the ones for the new Doctor Who, several for Supernatural, a ton of superhero ones, Star Wars, Star Trek... I always feel guilty reading them because they are not highbrow literature but most of them are actually quite good and very well written. Below are some of my favorites, ones I've read a few times.