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.

James Baldwin spent 8 days in a Parisian jail for receiving stolen goods. Any of his books would work. I have read Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni's Room. Well written, IMO.

I have a copy of If Beale Street Could Talk!

Jaimi wrote: "According to the Amazon blurb anyway, How Stella Got Her Groove Back counts!"
Huh. I enjoyed that one!

Rachel wrote: "How about biographies and autobiographies of people who are currently 42? For example, Roger Federer turned 42 in August, so you could read [book:The Roger Federer Effect: Rivals, Friends, Fans and..."
Ooohhh...great suggestion regarding biographies of someone currently 42 years old!

Marianne wrote: "I was checking out Lily and the Octopus to see if it would fit another prompt to discover on page 1 that a main character is 42!"
OMG! I have been wanting to read that book in forever!! GREAT!! Thank you!!

I can highly recommend The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey or The Call of the Wild by Jack London

It's the Beartown trilogy for me!

Diana wrote: "I think Beartown and The Great Alone would work. For romance fans, there's New Year's Kiss. If you want to go for horror, there's always [book:The Sh..."

The Great Alone was an amazingly well-written and plotted book, IMO, but Trigger Warning: (view spoiler)[DOMESTIC ABUSE, BIG TIME! (hide spoiler)]

Parable of the Talents it is! I loved Parable of the Sower and immediately purchased a copy of the second book but have yet to read it! Perfect!

Any of Lisa Genova's books would qualify since she initially self-published her debut novel, Still Alice. All her books are based upon her experience with and knowledge of neurological disorders. She is a neurologist. I have a copy of her newest release Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting! I am tagging it now!!

Lilith wrote: "Heather Gudenkauf was born with profound unilateral hearing impairment. Any of her books would qualify. I loved Not a Sound, as she really explores Deaf culture vs ..."
Oooh! Working at Borders years ago, they featured her debut, The Weight of Silence, so of course, being the only dedicated employee, I read it and posted a review in the store for all my coworkers to read and use. I now own two more of her books but have not yet read them! Perfect! Little Mercies and These Things Hidden

Whoo! Whoo! Richard Osman! Okay, I am NOT glad for this, but he suffers from nystagmus which greatly limits his vision! I just acquired copies of installments 2-4 of the Thursday Murder Club series: The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, and The Last Devil to Die. I really enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club! YAY!

Laura wrote: "I'd also note that in Red, White & Royal Blue, Henry turns 24 early in the story. Technically Alex (who turns 23) is the MC, but since it's a romance, I'd argue it's "about" both of them.."
Ooohhh, yes! I enjoyed that book!!

Doni wrote: "Damn it, I just finished a book with a 25-year-old. So close!"

You make me laugh! 😁

Nadine in NY wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "Not to play lawyer, but does the MC have to be 24 for the whole book. Say someone read a book where a character passes from 21-28 over the course of the book, would that count? They were 24 for par..."


Oh no. This category is hard enough as is, I'm not interested in any more restrictions. If the character is 24 at some point in the book, then I think it counts!"
TOTALLY AGREE!!

Whoo! Whoo! HAPPY 2024!! Welcome to that bright new shiny discussion thread for "2024 Weekly Check-Ins"!!

Off the Shelf has released a listing of 6 Upcoming Releases Everyone Will Be Talking About This Year (https://offtheshelf.com/2024/01/upcom...)
They are:
The Things We Didn't Know by Elba Iris Pérez
(Added to my TBR listing. Historical fiction.)
The Women by Kristin Hannah
(Already on my TBR listing! It’s Kristin Hannah! Got to be excellent!)
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
(Added to my TBR listing. A debut listed as SFF.)
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
(Already on my TBR listing. I loved One Italian Summer and own In Five Years which I am anxious
to read!)
A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke
(Already on my TBR listing. It is a debut and I assume I will either really enjoy it or hate it… 😊)
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner
(Third book in the Jenner’s Jane Austen Society series. I have yet to read the first one!)

Or, if you’d rather look back to favorite reads from 2023, there is this Off the Shelf listing of Readers’ Choice: Your 12 Favorite Books of 2023 (https://offtheshelf.com/2023/12/reade...) I won’t take the time to individually list all 12, but there are two I have read and loved:
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
***
ADMIN STUFF:
The January 2024 Monthly Group Read of Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah has begun! This book could be used to fulfill 2024 prompt #19 "A book set in the future." Surely there is a “rambunctious wrangler” just waiting to volunteer to facilitate this discussion! Please message either Nadine or myself to volunteer!
*sigh* No one has volunteered to lead this discussion, and after doing further research, I have decided this book is definitely not for me. It appears to include way too much violence. So, anyone interested in discussing this can join the fray HERE! Nadine has started off with her comments from having read this in the past! Enjoy! You will also find the thread to list a book you have read to fulfill this specific prompt HERE!

POLL RESULTS:
The February Monthly Group Read is Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker!! This book could be used to fulfill 2024 prompt #1 "A book with the word "leap" in the title." (Since “Leap Day”/February 29 does occur in February!) 😊 I don’t plan to read this one…since I want to read the mystery series that includes Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon (Meg Langslow #4) by Donna Andrews! I trust there is a “leaping literary luminar” willing to lead this discussion! Please message either Nadine or myself to volunteer!

NEW POLL!
The final selection poll for the March Monthly Group Read is up!. This book could be used to fulfill 2024 prompt #48 A collection of at least 24 poems. World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21!
There are 5 books from which you can select:
milk and honey by Rupi Kaur
Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman
Dog Songs: Poems by Mary Oliver
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare
VOTE HERE! This poll is scheduled through Tuesday, January 16! That gives everyone two whole weeks to vote rather than only one! 😃

The comprehensive listing of 2024 Monthly Group Reads resides HERE for your perusal and reference throughout 2024!
***
Question of the Week:
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this coming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?
Not happy, but definitely resigned and hopeful! LOL

As you all know, I did not finish my longest book by the end of 2023 and will be finishing it in 2024. I will not count 2023 Popsugar done for that reason. But it’s okay. I am enjoying my reread of ...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer and was unwilling to try to rush through it. Then I read two other books in tandem with that one, so, yeah. It will be counted for the 2024 challenge if there is a prompt it will fit! And…that is fine by me! Perhaps I’ll finish the 2024 Popsugar Challenge in record time! Ha! Ha! Okay, I can’t even keep a straight face as I type this! LOL 😊

I have added the 52 Book Club challenge for 2024. And I will still work on the AtY and Read Harder challenges. Although, I have stocked up on books in series I’ve already begun reading, so I trust there will be prompts to be fulfilled with those books. As always, I tell myself I should concentrate on reading the books I already own first… That never seems to work, but I’ll keep telling myself to do so anyway!! LOL 😉

2023 Popsugar: 49/50 SOOOO CLOSE! AND YET…SO FAR! 😉
Nadine’s Q1 Mini-Challenge 2023: 7/10 (I WILL READ THESE LAST 3 IN 2024!)
AtY: 52/52 DONE!
RHC: 14/24 I NEVER END UP FINISHING THIS ONE!

2024 READING CHALLENGES:
Popsugar: 0/50
Around the Year (AtY): 0/52
Read Harder: 0/24
52 Book Club: 0/52

FINISHED
2023 Challenge prompts
*Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was a quite enjoyable read, especially considering it to be a “romance” novel! Rather realistic, IMO, which I feel is unique to the genre. I just needed a ‘palate cleanser' so picked this one up from a stack!
POPSUGAR: #4, #19, #31, #50
ATY: #5, #14, #19, #29, #37, #46, #51
RHC: #24-2015: A Romance novel

2023 Challenge prompts
*White Fear: How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds by Roland Martin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ hits the mark in so many ways! This was a gift from my best friend at the gym. Then she invited me to attend an MLK presentation to be given by him at the Madame Walker Legacy Center on January 15, 2024! I am so excited to attend! I am especially jazzed since I read White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism just last month! Perhaps the Whites who buy into the underlying racist foundations of this society are finally realizing retribution may be in their future! 😉 It would be fitting, IMO! However, I have faith in the overwhelming humanity of humans toward one another. I truly believe it is there just waiting for the appropriate chance to emerge!! (You might term me an ‘eternal optimist’, but so be it!)
POPSUGAR: #4, #9, #29
ATY: #5, #6, #10-Scary—not for the future, but for the past and present, #13-flag, #14, #18, #22, #26, #28, #34-176 pages, #43-many, #52
RHC: #3, #4, 2016: Read a book about politics

I have yet to finish a book in 2024! The first one will most likely be Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon. I purchased this book at an author event in October 2023 and purchased a second copy for my best friend. She decided to start reading it at the end of 2023, so I have been reading it in tandem with ...And Ladies of the Club! (One of the main reasons I didn’t manage to finish ALotC by the end of 2023!)

CONTINUING:
*Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
Not just a good mystery, but also full of snarky humor! Lana reminds me of my own mother. That’s not necessarily good for Beth, her daughter, but I can appreciate and empathize with Beth’s loyalty in caring for her mother regardless of their relationship.
*...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer
Still working on this last one for 2023 Popsugar. Can’t believe how much I had overlooked or forgotten or just simply didn’t have enough life experience to better understand and relate to in this book when I read it 35 years ago! Amazing what a difference age and experience can make in rereading the same text!
*Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America by Joseph Barndt
Want to read this before the MLK Day event. It was published in 1991. I find it unbelievable how LONG it takes to make the majority of us humans more respectful, aware, and appreciative of each other! Ugh…

PLANNED:
*An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed (Elderly Lady #2) by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy for an IRL book club
*An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good (Elderly Lady #1) by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy—a reread to refresh my memory for the second installment above!
*Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum #30) by Janet Evanovich
*10th Anniversary (Women’s Murder Club #9) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*Fear No Evil (Alex Cross #29) by James Patterson
11th Hour (Women’s Murder Club #11) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
*The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
I’m already planning to delay this until February

Kendra wrote: "I did mean to come back and write more after I finished, but then I got busy with the holiday season... But I'm here now and I have the time.

I was so much happier with this book than L&L. The fir..."

I would agree that B&B was "messier"! 👍😊

L&L was written during NaNoWriMo, so perhaps that helps explain the difference between the difference between these two books? Also, I can imagine that the more you write the more you improve...

I am soooo glad you liked B&B! YAY!!

Ashley Marie wrote: "L Y N N wrote: "Gallina is an interesting (Perhaps somewhat annoying?) character in her own right. Your thoughts about her?"

Gallina definitely grew on me, as I think she was meant to considering she was part of Viv's raiding band in L&L. I loved watching the two of them warm to each other."
Yes, Baldree is just pure genius at character development, IMO!

Kendra wrote: "So I'm still working my way through it, but I have a few thoughts:

I know I complained about the first book being a D&D game of 'lets start a coffee shop', and then this book started to go in the direction of being a D&D version of 'lets fix up a bookshop' and yet I was totally fine with it. And then it turned into 'lets teach someone how much fun it is to read' and I liked that even more. I guess I know where my interests lie.😉 But then as the book has gone on, I think Travis does a much better job of balancing out the book store project, the character moments and then having an actual plot. I always like to see an author improve from book to book. I'm enjoying this one much more and I'm glad I joined in the group read."
I am so glad this one is more enjoyable to you than was L&L! YAY!! I do believe this one was perhaps a bit more plot-driven. I found I was a bit more enamored with this one than I was with L&L. Perhaps that was one reason...

"And as to reading order - part of the fun with Galina is knowing that she's going to become one of Vi's closest friends despite how rocky the first meeting is. So I'd go with reading them in published order, at least for the first time reading the series through."
Yes! I am going to have the IRL book club I faciliate read L&L in March and strongly suggest they also read B&B. I think they will all enjoy these books!

Chrissy wrote: "I definitely would not recommend reading them in sequential order - the prequel is meant to be read after L&L.

I think Satchel and Zelia were my favorite characters besides Viv."
I would agree with you regarding the reading order!

Satchel was a very imaginative character, IMO!

And Zelia was probably not my stereotypical idea of an author! LOL

Nadine in NY wrote: "Doreen wrote: "Wondering if this read along is going to happen as there hasn't been an update? I will have to buy the ebook to read along if it is going to happen, but will wait for a library copy ..."
I will not be reading this one as it appears to contain much violence and I do not do violence well!

But I trust other members will be reading and discussing! And if anyone would still like to lead the discussion, jump right in!

Doreen wrote: "Wondering if this read along is going to happen as there hasn't been an update? I will have to buy the ebook to read along if it is going to happen, but will wait for a library copy if not. I'm not..."
There is not much etiquette involved, Doreen! Other than reading and commenting. No one is officially leading this month's discussion, so feel free to jump in!