L Y N N’s Comments (group member since Nov 10, 2018)

L Y N N’s comments from the Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge group.

I had the migraine from hell on Monday afternoon! I haven't had a migraine like that in so many years!! I even had to cancel my class at the gym. That's only twice I've canceled for sickness in over 5 years, so I guess that not's bad...but that headache! I took 4 Aleve over 45 minutes along with 6 probiotics and my head pounded so badly when I was lying in bed I couldn't stand it and had to sit up. I ended up taking two more Aleve and 2 more probiotic capsules and after a couple of hours I could at least lie down in bed comfortably enough to sleep... Yikes! I'd forgotten just how painful those can be! And I'm just sorry for anyone who experiences them on a regular basis. You have my sympathy AND empathy! 😯😊

My Question of the Week answer was too long, so it is in a separate posting below!

ADMIN STUFF:
THE DECEMBER MONTHLY GROUP READ IS The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde!
This book could be used to fulfill Prompt #36 A Book Written By an Incarcerated Or Formerly Incarcerated Person
National Mudd Day is December 20! What is National Mudd Day, you may ask? It references a fascinating bit of history I doubt many of us know. Dr. Samuel Mudd was a doctor who helped John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirator David Herold immediately following Lincoln’s assassination on the night of April 14, 1865. Mudd performed surgery on Booth and allowed them to spend the night. He didn’t report the men’s visit for another 24 hours, though it was assumed he would have heard of the assassination well before that time. Mudd was arrested 12 days later and eventually convicted to a life sentence by a military commission for the crime of aiding and conspiring in a murder, missing the death penalty by only one vote!
Dubhease is the "End-of-Year Innovator" who has graciously volunteered to lead this discussion! YAY Dubhease! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

THE JANUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ IS Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper!
This book could be used to fulfill prompt #43 A book that includes a nonverbal character!
National Dress Up Your Pet Day is January 14, 2025
Surely there is a member out there whose New Year's resolution list includes facilitating the first 2025 Monthly Group Read discussion!?! Message either Nadine or Lynn to volunteer!

THE FEBRUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ NOMINATION POLL IS
HERE!
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO TIME LIMITATIONS, this nomination poll will only be available through New Year’s Eve Day NEXT Tuesday, December 31! We’ll return to keeping polls live for two weeks once we have a February selection finalized! (We just need to hurry these first two month selections along so members can have an opportunity to obtain the book if they wish to participate.)

THE LISTING OF 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ TOPICS IS HERE!

The comprehensive listing of 2024 Monthly Group Reads resides HERE for your perusal and reference throughout 2024!
***
2024 READING CHALLENGES:
Popsugar: 46/50
Around the Year (AtY): 52/52 DONE!
Read Harder: 19/24
52 Book Club: 47/52

FINISHED:
*All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for the IRL book club I facilitate. There were 6 members present at this discussion. Two loved it, one DNFd it, one was only 70 pages in but planned to abandon it, one was just 30 pages from the end, and I personally didn’t truly enjoy this one much. My enjoyment rating would be only 2 or 3 stars, but Whitaker’s writing skills and ability definitely lifted it much higher for me. I could appreciate so very much about his writing, but I felt as if I’d been run over with a steamroller and totally drained of all ability to emote by the time I finished… I don’t require HEA, but the teeny tiny bit of hopefulness at the VERY end of this 600+ page tome did not redeem it for me. To say this one is emotionally intense is, IMO, a vast understatement. HERE is my review, if you’re interested…
POPSUGAR: #2, #21-2024
ATY: #3-A book over 500 pages long, #10-Historical Fiction, #11, #16, #17, #21, #25, #27, #33, #34-Doc, #36, #41, #46, #48, #49, #51
RHC: #23, #24-2015: prompt #6 A book written by someone whose gender is different from your own
52 Book Club: #3, #14, #19, #20, #24, #25, #26-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, #29-2024, #30, #31, #33, #41, #43, #44, #49, #51, #52

*XYZ - A Detective Story by Anna Katharine Green ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was very enjoyable for me! Especially immediately after All the Colors of the Dark! 😊 How had I never before heard of this “American Agatha Christie”/”mother of the detective novel” before? She is one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted and legally accurate stories. (From Wikipedia article). Really enjoyed this short story/novella and am definitely up for reading more of her writing! She published 37 books in 40 years. Looks as if I’ll be able to get several on Gutenberg!
POPSUGAR: #24, NEW #50
ATY: #3-A book you could read within 24 hours, #9-438 ratings, #10-Historical Fiction, #11, #17, #24-Green, #25, #46, #48, #49
RHC: #23, #24-2023: prompt #14 A book with under 500 Goodreads ratings
52 Book Club: #14, #20, #26-Classic, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, #30, #32

CONTINUING:
*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (#36)
I am finding this to be a rather strange reading experience!
*The Trees by Percival Everett (#40)
*Shift (Wool #2) by Hugh Howey (#46)
*Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
*The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
*Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking has me thinking so very much that I have delayed reviewing it until I can finalize my thoughts…
*The Birthing House by Kathy Taylor
*...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer

PLANNED:
*XAIPE by E.E. Cummings (#30)
*Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (#42)
*21st Birthday (Women’s Murder Club #21) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*22 Seconds (Women’s Murder Club #22) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23rd Midnight (Women’s Murder Club #23) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23 1/2 Lies (Women’s Murder Club #23.5) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*The 24th Hour (Women’s Murder Club #24) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*Fear No Evil (Alex Cross #29) by James Patterson
*Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
*The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

Ashley Marie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "That mug sounds perfect for next year's challenge!! What are some of the last sentences on it?"

Mug quotes!"
This list is amazing and so helpful! Thanks so much for posting!

I really want to reread Huckleberry Finn next year and then Percival Everett's James, so this is perfect!!

Happy Thursday!!

I have now driven through 3 different snowstorms in traveling to my gym these past 2-3 weeks! It is a 40-mile commute and twice I have left with snow on the ground, but there is no snow at all on the ground or coming down just 30 miles from my house! Yikes! I dislike winter weather anyway! Just stay away!! LOL 😯😉

I allowed myself to spend a lot of time planning for 2025 challenges the last few days. I just get so excited doing this!! But now I’m concentrating yet once again on completing the 2024 Popsugar Challenge, though I still have 2 more books to read for IRL book club meetings next week and one is fairly long… I already told myself that if I don’t finish the 2024 challenge until January, that’s okay! Permission from me to me to relax the deadline! 😋

The January 2025 Monthly Group Read nomination poll is only available through this Saturday, December 14! See the specific link and information below!

Just a reminder of the 2024 NPR’s Books We Love listing: https://apps.npr.org/best-books/?utm_... I still have not perused this in detail since I know it will be a very worthwhile and yet time-consuming review! Hopefully it will prove helpful to 2025 planning!

ADMIN STUFF:
THE DECEMBER MONTHLY GROUP READ IS The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde!
This book could be used to fulfill Prompt #36 A Book Written By an Incarcerated Or Formerly Incarcerated Person
National Mudd Day is December 20! What is National Mudd Day, you may ask? It references a fascinating bit of history I doubt many of us know. Dr. Samuel Mudd was a doctor who helped John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirator David Herold immediately following Lincoln’s assassination on the night of April 14, 1865. Mudd performed surgery on Booth and allowed them to spend the night. He didn’t report the men’s visit for another 24 hours, though it was assumed he would have heard of the assassination well before that time. Mudd was arrested 12 days later and eventually convicted to a life sentence by a military commission for the crime of aiding and conspiring in a murder, missing the death penalty by only one vote!
Dubhease is the "End-of-Year Innovator" who has graciously volunteered to lead this discussion! YAY Dubhease! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Fingers crossed that I can handle this book! (You know…I’m such a wuss about anything scary/horror-like!)

THE JANUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ NOMINATION POLL IS HERE!
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO TIME LIMITATIONS, this nomination poll will only be available through THIS Saturday, December 14! So just one week from today!! Then a FINAL SELECTION poll will be posted and also only available for one week, through Saturday, December 21! I can’t help it! I just get so excited over creating the listing for the year and then watching to see which books are selected! I almost get goosebumps!! 😉

THE LISTING OF 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ TOPICS IS HERE!

The comprehensive listing of 2024 Monthly Group Reads resides HERE for your perusal and reference throughout 2024!
***

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What is/are your favorite 2025 prompt(s)?
Wow. So many! Seriously. I am impressed with next year’s challenge prompts yet again! I think there may be only 4 or 5 that I couldn’t make a positive case for, at least from my perspective!
1 A book about a POC experiencing joy and not trauma
My interpretation: Not that there may not be some difficulties to overcome, but ending with joy/on a positive note.
6 A book that fulfills your favorite prompt from the 2015 PS Reading Challenge
Clever!
9 A book that features a character going through menopause
Yes! Let’s get some more representation for older than 20s/30s women!!
12 A book about a road trip
I would have never imagined this one myself, but I think it is a good one, especially given the fact that I have owned Kris Radish’s Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral for years and never yet read it!! I am fascinated by the premise!
13 A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads
I think we often overlook ‘lesser-rated’ books to our own peril!
23 A book that is considered healing fiction
Admittedly, my favorite, since I adore these books!! I want to emphasize Stacy Sivinski’s The Crescent Moon Tearoom as one of these I meant to read this year and will definitely get to in 2025! Though I’ve not yet read it, I have met the author at another author’s event at one of our local used bookstores. She is located locally to me and I just can’t imagine I won’t love this book! (I had to miss her own author event at the same store because I taught at the gym that evening! (Boo! 🙄)
24 A book with a happily single woman protagonist
Yes! Not everyone wants to or needs to be MARRIED to be happy!! I adored my time as a single woman!
25 A book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee
My second most favorite! I admit I feel as if this year’s challenge doesn’t include many specific prompts targeting what I think of as books concentrating on more ‘diverse’ characters, subjects, etc., (Though that may just be my own misinterpretation...) so was especially thrilled with this one! There are so many people totally displaced from their homes/homelands in this world and I cannot
imagine living through that...especially lacking financial resources...
29 A book about a food truck
Fun!
41 A book by the oldest author in your TBR pile
I love the way this is so open-ended and dependent upon a reader’s
own interpretation! Fun!
50 A book that features a character with chronic pain
So many people deal with chronic pain in their lives. Perhaps especially as they age, but this can also be a lifelong battle for many, though only their closest friends and family may be aware of that… Again, what I perceive to be an overlooked theme.

2024 READING CHALLENGES:
Popsugar: 44/50
Around the Year (AtY): 52/52 DONE!
Read Harder: 19/24
52 Book Club: 47/52

FINISHED:
*Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret (Ernest Cunningham #3) by Benjamin Stevenson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for an IRL book club meeting Tuesday. We all enjoyed this one. The two of us who had read at least one of the first two installments in this series agreed this third installment was a bit lighter than the first two which were a bit darker and “grittier” (my term!). Stevenson’s masterful use of language is superb, IMO! And I adore the intermittent humor throughout his books. I feel there are few authors who even try to break that fourth wall, let alone are as successful at it as he is!
POPSUGAR: #21, #27, #31
ATY: #1, #3-A book set mostly in or around a building, #8, #15, #17, #21, #24-Orange and Green, #25, #27, #33, #37, #41, #44, #48, #51
RHC: #23, #24-2022: prompt #16 Recommended by a friend with different reading tastes
52 Book Club: #2, #6, #14, #19, #24, #29, #30, #32, #40, #47, NEW #48, #52

*The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for an IRL book club meeting this coming Sunday. This book was amazing! And just a debut novel! Immensely satisfying diversity among the four main characters and unexpected twists and turns!
POPSUGAR: #2, #11, #14, #17, NEW #43, #45
ATY: #3- A book with at least 247 pages, #5, #14, #17, #23, #24-Orange, Green, Purple, #33, #49
RHC: #24-2015: prompt #5 A book written by or about someone who identifies as LGBTQ+
52 Book Club: #9, #10, #14, #19, #30, #40, #43, #45

CONTINUING:
*All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker for the IRL book club I facilitate. This is a behemoth, so am starting it much earlier prior to the meeting than usual! 😊
*Persuasion by Jane Austen (#43)
*The Trees by Percival Everett (#40)
*Shift (Wool #2) by Hugh Howey (#46)
*Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley (#28)
*Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
*The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
*Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking has me thinking so very much that I have delayed reviewing it until I can finalize my thoughts…
*The Birthing House by Kathy Taylor
*...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer

PLANNED:
*Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (#30)
*Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (#42)
*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (#36)
*21st Birthday (Women’s Murder Club #21) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*22 Seconds (Women’s Murder Club #22) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23rd Midnight (Women’s Murder Club #23) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23 1/2 Lies (Women’s Murder Club #23.5) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*The 24th Hour (Women’s Murder Club #24) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*Fear No Evil (Alex Cross #29) by James Patterson
*Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
*The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

Kenzie wrote: "This is the prompt I recommended! I definitely used the NYT article to put a name to the types of books it describes :)"
I love it!

I have read quite a few books listed on the NYT listing, though there are some that I would heartily disagree with! (Of course, right?)

Jen W. wrote: "The Relentless Moon - the main character is the wife of a U.S. senator who's apparently getting ready to run for president. I haven't read it, but I'm trying to fit this series in a..."
I highly recommend the Lady Astronaut Universe series! The fourth installment, The Martian Contingency, is due to release March 18, 2025! Not that I'm anxious or anything!!

OMG! Running with Sherman was already on my TBR listing! This has to be a good one, doesn't it? Especially if you are an animal lover!

Fannie wrote: "Can Ghost be a fit for this prompt? And the subsequent books in the serie?"
Yes! Definitely! There are 4 books in this Track series by Jason Reynolds who is, IMO, one of the most gifted writers I've read! He is phenomenal!

Each book tells the story of one of this running club's members, hence the single word title for each book. They are targeting Middle Grade/YA. But I just adore this series! The characters are complex yet relatable, and I believe, totally authentic. Highly recommended!

LeahS wrote: "Tempted to read a book about any club e.g. a book club, as they are all 'run' by somone."

I like that twist!

Kristy wrote: "I swear I just read a book about a couple that met while training for the NY marathon in a running club, but I can't seem to find it in my GR books."
Aw, man! That is so frustratiing! Hope you find it eventually! 😊

The AI recommended W Bruce Cameron's A Dog's Purpose (A Dog's Purpose #1) when I listed Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain. Since I have read the first two installments in the Dog's Purpose trilogy, I'll read the third book, A Dog's Promise, since I've owned it for several years and keep meaning to read it. Beyond that book, it listed one that I could not find anywhere, along with several others that made no sense to me whatsoever! So much for AI recommendations!

Emma wrote: "Books mentioned in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society are listed here http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/guern..."
That is one of my favorite books!

Laura Ruth wrote: "If there's a classic or other well-known book that you want to slot into this prompt, the Wikipedia page will tell you where else the book has been mentioned in other books or pop culture."
I did not realize that! Thanks for this!

SarahKat wrote: "Every time I come across a book mentioned in a book I think maybe I should write that down in case the prompt comes up again, but I never do. *sigh*"

I was certain I had a list. But I cannot find it anywhere on my laptop. *Sigh*

Nadine in NY wrote: "L Y N N wrote: "... Something I discovered this year is that searching for Goodreads Listopias is much more effective and comprehensive using my browser rather than searching through Goodreads itself. ..."
Yeah it's always been that way. It's weird because Amazon is one of the first sites to have a really good search engine, but I guess they never gave that to Goodreads. Listopia search sucks."
I still believe Bezos just bought Goodreads as an advertising mechanism for Amazon. Plus, he really wants to be the only publisher...that was his stated goal per one of his underlings when he first established Amazon selling books online. Ugh. I wish he had left Goodreads alone.

"*XOXO (XOXO #1) by Axie Oh ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was an extremely enjoyable read for me!

OMG it's a book we agree on!!! I loved XOXO & ASAP so much! they were so cute!!! I wish she would write a third one in that world. She's got a fantasy novel coming out in 2025, but I wasn't so crazy about The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (I DNF'ed it, actually) so I'm not so sure if I'll like it."
I know! Isn't it fun when that happens? LOL The last 100 page sof TGWFBtS saved it for me, but it was still just a 4-star read for me, which, as you know, means it disappointed me a bit. I plan to read ASAP in 2025. 😁👍

Victoria wrote: "What about Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid?? To be published in June 2025. I don't think it's space tourism in the literal sense, seems more like space exploration.. I hate this prompt, not reall..."

I don't know if it will exactly fulfill this prompt, but I can only imagine I'll be reading it! I wondered when her next book would be released!

Dani wrote: "Artemis I think would most definitely work for this. It’s not the central focus of the book, but the moon tourism plays a big role."
And another good one, IMO!

Brandon wrote: "The Spare Man is a mystery/thriller set on a space cruise ship."
And I really enjoyed it. A quite complex mystery!

FIRST AND FOREMOST!! WE FINALLY HAVE A LISTING OF 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ TOPICS!! It is HERE
ALONG WITH THAT WE ALSO HAVE THE NOMINATION POLL FOR THE JANUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ HERE
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO TIME LIMITATIONS, this nomination poll will only be available through Saturday, December 14! So just one week from today!! Then a FINAL SELECTION poll will be posted and also only available for one week, through Saturday, December 21!

In trying to get all the 2025 prompts posted, I had only three more to go late on Tuesday night/very early Wednesday morning when I inadvertently touched the X on my browser window and voila! All my entry text was gone! Ugh... That’s when I decided I was too tired to continue, shut my laptop down and went to bed! LOL

Something I discovered this year is that searching for Goodreads Listopias is much more effective and comprehensive using my browser rather than searching through Goodreads itself. Interesting…but I find Goodreads to be inefficient overall. I have lately discovered books that I KNOW I listed on my “own it” shelf, but they were no longer checked. And books that I’ve reviewed and still are not listed as “read.” I could go on…most frustrating!

I am a self-proclaimed NPR nerd! Hence, my mention of the 2024 NPR’s Books We Love listing: https://apps.npr.org/best-books/?utm_... I have yet to peruse through here, but certainly will as I plan for 2025 challenges!

And how did I NOT know about the NPR Book of the Day podcast? Thank goodness I do now! 😉😊 I listen to those in the car now!

ADMIN STUFF:
THE DECEMBER MONTHLY GROUP READ IS The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde!
This book could be used to fulfill Prompt #36 A Book Written By an Incarcerated Or Formerly Incarcerated Person
National Mudd Day is December 20! What is National Mudd Day, you may ask? It references a fascinating bit of history I doubt many of us know. Dr. Samuel Mudd was a doctor who helped John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirator David Herold immediately following Lincoln’s assassination on the night of April 14, 1865. Mudd performed surgery on Booth and allowed them to spend the night. He didn’t report the men’s visit for another 24 hours, though it was assumed he would have heard of the assassination well before that time. Mudd was arrested 12 days later and eventually convicted to a life sentence by a military commission for the crime of aiding and conspiring in a murder, missing the death penalty by only one vote!
Dubhease is the "End-of-Year Innovator" who has graciously volunteered to lead this discussion! YAY Dubhease! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Fingers crossed that I can handle this book! (You know…I’m such a wuss about anything scary/horror-like!)

THE NOVEMBER MONTHLY GROUP READ IS One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
This book could be used to fulfill Prompt #39 A fiction book written by a trans or nonbinary author
I’m leaving this up because I have been too busy with life and the 2025 postings to get to finishing this discussion yet! (Sorry!)

The comprehensive listing of 2024 Monthly Group Reads resides HERE for your perusal and reference throughout 2024!
***

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
How many books have you already postponed reading because you've discovered they are PERFECT for a 2025 category?
What a PERFECT QotW, Nadine!! I can’t say I have actually purposefully delayed reading any, but I now have about 20 books labeled and set aside for the 2025 challenge! And I’m diligently still trying to complete the 2024 challenge!! Though admittedly, I have 4 books to read for IRL book club meetings in the first half of the month!! (Wish me luck!)

2024 READING CHALLENGES:
Popsugar: 44/50
Around the Year (AtY): 52/52 DONE!
Read Harder: 19/24
52 Book Club: 46/52

FINISHED:
*The Conjure-Man Dies: A Mystery Tale of Dark Harlem by Rudolph Fisher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was, IMO, an excellent read! It just missed being a 10-star rating for me! I adore the way Fisher blended some of the African culture into the ‘modern-day’ 1930’s U.S. This is recognized as the first novel with a black detective as well as the first detective novel with only black characters, and (according to Wikipedia) he was the second African American to write a detective novel in the United States. (I have seen him credited elsewhere as having been the first.)
I am striving to read more of the Harlem Renaissance works in 2025!
POPSUGAR: NEW #16, #17, #27
ATY: #1, #3-A book related to masks or a masquerade, #9-1,061 ratings, #10-Historical Fiction, #12, #14, #17, #21, #24-Purple, #25, #33, #41, #46, #48
RHC: #16, #23, #24-2017: prompt #7 A book published between 1900-1950
52 Book Club: #14, #20, #26-Classic, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, #30, #32, #51

*XOXO (XOXO #1) by Axie Oh ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was an extremely enjoyable read for me! Even if it very much, IMO, is a ‘typical’ romance! Admittedly, there were times it was just a tad “too good to be believable,” but the intermittent humor and unique characters put it over the top for me! Definitely ready to read the second installment, ASAP…well, ASAP!! LOL
POPSUGAR: #2, NEW #5, #11
ATY: #3-A book title that seemingly refers to one or more characters in the book, #5-Seoul, South Korea, #11, #14, #15, #16, #17, #23, #24-Orange and Purple, #31, #33, #36, #37, #49
RHC: #16, #24-2015: prompt #7 A book set in Asia
52 Book Club: #14

CONTINUING:
*Persuasion by Jane Austen (#43)
*The Trees by Percival Everett (#40)
*Shift (Wool #2) by Hugh Howey (#46)
*Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley (#28)
*Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
*The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
*Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking has me thinking so very much that I have delayed reviewing it until I can finalize my thoughts…
*The Birthing House by Kathy Taylor
*...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer

PLANNED:
*Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (#30)
*Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (#42)
*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (#36)
*21st Birthday (Women’s Murder Club #21) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*22 Seconds (Women’s Murder Club #22) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23rd Midnight (Women’s Murder Club #23) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23 1/2 Lies (Women’s Murder Club #23.5) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*The 24th Hour (Women’s Murder Club #24) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*Fear No Evil (Alex Cross #29) by James Patterson
*Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
*The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

When I first read this prompt, my immediate thought was that, IMO, there are very few books where the characters experience all joy without some hardships to overcome... But, as you-all should know by now, I firmly believe that each reader should interpret each prompt within their own sphere of life experience and preference. That is what reading is all about. All reader reactions/interpretations are valid. I have read some pretty 'joyful'/tame books that held some version of "trauma" for me that in no way affected many other readers in the same way. And vice versa. It's all relative...

Here's to each of us sharing our varied reactions! 'Cause that's what reading and especially discussion is all about!

Jen W. wrote: "L Y N N wrote: "Question. I own a copy of Blackout and have been wanting to read it, but are the stories of BOTH books intereconnected? Or, I assume, I could just read Blackout OR Whiteoutand those...

No, they're interconnected within each book, but each of the two books are standalone. They take place in two different cities."
That's great! Thanks!