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.

Here is my listing of finished books for this check-in. Really late...
FINISHED:
*The Gypsy Game (Game #2) by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (10 STARS) was an absolutely excellent read! I particularly appreciated these characters’ compassion regarding a culture that experienced so much oppression and genocide throughout history—so much so that they felt they couldn’t play a “game” involving these people. And then Snyder’s approach to homelessness was so real, IMO! I plan to read more of this author’s 43 published works!
POPSUGAR: #9, #24, #25, #31-the oppression/genocide of “gypsies”!, #40-2017: prompt #51 A book about a difficult topic: oppression/genocide & homelessness, #47
ATY: #1-April/”February”, #4-A book with nomads, #7, #14-1,509 ratings, #19, #31-1997, #33, #36-“Bear”!, #40-The Chariot, Strength, Justice, Death, Judgment, The World, #41, #44, #45, #46-Bear, #49
RHC: #24-2020: prompt #9 Read the LAST book in a series

*A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra (10 STARS) left me literally breathless at the end… Yes, it is uplifting, but it is also a detailed treatise of the uselessness of war and occupation. A few people survive and end up thriving, but the majority simply end up dying… Bereft. With a slight glimmer of hopefulness. That is how I can best describe my feelings about it. Masterful writing and pacing. A stunning debut. Definitely deserving of all the accolades it has received. It is a powerful read. I want to read more of Marra’s writing and am hoping for more positive themes…
POPSUGAR: #9, NEW #10, #25, #31-war, #33, NEW #35, #36, #40-2017: prompt #51 A book about a difficult topic—war, torture, etc., #46, #47
ATY: #1-Akhmed, #3, #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): …passion…desolation…despair—hopelessness, #7-terrorism, #11, #13-Sonja, Havaa, #15, #19, #36-Khassan’s dogs, #40-The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, Justice, Judgment, The World, #41, #44, #49, #50
RHC: #24-2021: Read a book you’ve been intimidated to read

*Galatea by Madeline Miller (5 STARS). While we all know I am no student of mythology for its own sake, I love Miller’s writing and her adaptations. Reading her notes at the end was a must for me and made this short story all the more pertinent and powerful.
POPSUGAR: #1, #24, #25, #36, #40-2016: prompt #30 A book with a blue cover
ATY: #4-A book whose author is younger than you, #7, #15, #25-64 pages, #29, #30, #40-Strength, Justice, Death, Judgement, The World, #41-drugged tea, #44, #46, #49, #51
RHC: #24-2016: A book with less than 100 pages

That leaves 2 books I am finishing to complete Popsugar and then on to 2023!!

Joanna wrote: "I think if you interpret it broadly enough, a lot could qualify. It's like the line about how there are 7 original plots, and everyone is just recycling them. I saw something online about how Dante..."
That link is so helpful! Thank you! I had no idea about The Call of the Wild!

Perhaps being sick at the end of the year has been somewhat of a blessing in disguise. As I review my listings for the upcoming 2023 POPSUGAR, AtY, and Read Harder challenges, I realize I have not had the time and definitely lacked the energy to compose my usual voluminous listings for each and every prompt. Seriously, in the past I usually had at least 15-20 and sometimes 40-50 books listed for the majority of the prompts. (We do know I love book lists!) As a result, as I consider the coming new year, I am not as overwhelmed by all those books I really really really want to read for so many of the prompts. Perhaps I’m just old enough to lack the energy to overwhelm myself! LOL But whatever the cause, it’s rather nice to sit back and relax a bit and realize I have the majority of prompts fulfilled with mostly books I currently own and really really really want to read! I sound like a little kid, don’t I?!? But that’s how I feel about books! I. WANT. TO. READ. THEM. ALL!! REALLY! LOL That is my life’s goal!

I hate to end the year where I seemingly began it. Complaining about Goodreads..but…I feel the need to do so. Now they have switched me back to the old format. WTH!?! I mean, REALLY?!? And books that I’ve read and did appear on my “read” shelf are now appearing as “want to read” or “currently reading” when I look at each book’s page. And I’m still getting certain books switched to a “Kindle” eformat and then I’m unable to remove that version from my listing of books. It is SO FRUSTRATING!! I have found that sometimes if I just ignore these anomalies, the next time I look, the books have reverted to the proper designation, etc. Oh, well…something to learn to be more accepting of in the new year, I guess!

And…now we at least have water and a working toilet in our household. Our pipes froze the first night of our “deep freeze” storm front here in the Midwestern US. I left a stream running in each faucet, but that didn’t matter. I’ve never had pipes freeze before, so I guess I’ve always been lucky! And…there was no damage to the pipes! YAY!! (Though I admit I am frustrated at the fact that our furnace guy was the last one to be under our house and evidently left the hatch halfway open, exposing the main water line to this cold air…so I’ve made a note to remind him to close that if he ever has to get back under there again!) And, the plumber was so grateful that he didn’t really have to do anything here, he only charged us half price for the visit.  That was exactly one week ago—wind chill was 38 degrees below zero and today it is mid-50s with rain. Weather! Definitely inconsistent!

As I sit here on the morning of the very last day of 2022, I am a bit nostalgic, a bit frustrated (with myself), and yet hopeful overall! Nostalgic for all the amazing reading I’ve had the opportunity to complete this year. Counting the two books I am reading today and will most likely finish tomorrow or the day after, I will have read 171 books in 2022! I was hoping to get to at least 150, so have overshot that goal! And…I was still working full-time the first 3 months of 2022, so perhaps, just perhaps, I will actually attain my ultimate goal of 200 books read in one year in 2023! My fingers are crossed… My frustration erupts from several sources: my end-of-year reading strategy was really bad! I could have finished Popsugar if I had been paying attention! As it is, I am currently reading Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital and Laurie Frankel’s most recent release, One Two Three. I was fortunate enough to purchase a used copy of OTT yesterday at my favorite used bookstore! But that leads to another frustration…with myself! I was so proud of the 15 books I had boxed up to deliver to the bookstore! And then, I ended up purchasing another 15 books total by the time I arrived home last evening. In fairness, one of those was a freebie ARC from the bookstore (any time you make a purchase you can select from a variety of ARCs on display). I only paid full price for 2 of those books. That’s good. That’s great! But…I still have just as many books in my house as I did when I left with that box of books yesterday! Ah, well. Some obsessions know no bounds! One of the most intense books I’ve read was one I just finished, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. So many reviewers mentioned how uplifting and hopeful it was…but I mainly felt bereft upon finishing it. Now, in the past couple of days I have managed to form a more positive reaction to it overall…and I realize life is like that. We tend to absorb experiences and then recalibrate. For so many reasons, I am hopeful. For myself. For my family. For my friends. For my acquaintances. For the country where I live. For the world. I hold out hope that critical mass is just around the corner for world peace. (If I’m going to aim…I’m going to aim HIGH! LOL)

ADMIN STUFF:
If you’ve not yet read Book Lovers by Emily Henry for the December Monthly Group Read discussion, there is still time!! (Yes, this sentence is a repeat from last week’s posting! LOL ‘Cause you still have today!) This could be used to fulfill 2022 prompt #1 A book published in 2022. JessicaMHR is the "rambunctious reader" facilitating that discussion! Both that and the discussion thread for December Challenge—I finished! These are in the Current Monthly Group Read folder HERE. And will be moved to the 2022 Monthly Group Reads folder in a few days.

Thank you to all who have participated in Monthly Group Reads! Whether you’ve helped select books or read the books or participated in discussions—and ESPECIALLY if you have facilitated discussion—THANK YOU! We hope participation will continue into 2023!

Happy to announce that we will be reading Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney for the January 2023 Monthly Group Read! Teri is the "powerfully provocative facilitator" for this month’s discussion! Thank you, Teri!

And Nadine was kept busy creating polls since the final selection poll for the February 2023 Monthly Group Read ended in a 3-way tie! HERE is the tie-breaker poll!
Help us decide what to read to fulfill 2023 prompt #43 A book that takes place entirely in one day! HELP US FINALLY SELECT THAT ONE BOOK!

She also created the nomination poll for the March 2023 Monthly Group Read which could be used to fulfill prompt #7 A book with “Girl” in the title. If you do not see a book you want to vote for and wish to write-in a nomination, please be sure to check the listing of INELIGIBLE books HERE FIRST!  Otherwise, that poll is HERE. HAPPY NOMINATING!

Also, another reminder that every single past 2022 Monthly Group Read discussion and “I Finished!” thread is open and available to all in the 2022 Monthly Group Reads folder HERE.

Popsugar: 48/50
If I had been a bit more strategic, I would have read A Constellation of Vital Phenomena rather than starting The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family and I probably would have finished Popsugar before the end of 2022. But you know what they say about hindsight…always 20/20! :)
ATY: 52/52 DONE!
RHC: 19/24

My Question of the Week response and FINISHED books listing is getting its own separate posting!

CONTINUING:
*Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink is an unbelievable recounting of just how unprepared everyone was and the lack of foresight for even communication!
One Two Three by Laurie Frankel is already amazing after just 30 pages! I adored This Is How It Always Is and really wanted to read this one! How fortunate that my favorite used bookstore had a “greatly-reduced-in-price” copy available yesterday!
*The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed.
*The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
*Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard
*Mrs. 'Arris Goes to New York (Mrs. ‘Arris #2) by Paul Gallico for the sister cities prompt.
*Beloved by Toni Morrison

PLANNED:
*The Cuckoo's CallingThe Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith
*Strange Sight (Essex Museum Witch Mystery #2) by Syd Moore
*The Winners (Beartown #3) by Fredrik Backman
*Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
*The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
*Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
*Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
*Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

As I'm entering data for Thin Air, I realized that any of the installments in Ann Cleeves' Shetland Island series would work for this prompt!

Milena wrote: "Dixie wrote: "What about As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride? Is that cheating? I really don't want to read a novelization (but will if I have to..."

Why do you not have a vote? There is no official Popsugar representative in this group. I guess Nadine or Lynn are the closest to officials we have. But your vote counts to me, so thank you."
This challenge is all about "you do you," IMO! No Popsugar police around! ;) Milena's "vote" is just as valid as anyone else's here! ;)

Huh. How about The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer. Does that qualify as Norse mythology? 21 Goodreads members categorized it as such, but I'm uncertain since I am far from being an expert on mythology! :)

Okay. It looks as if I may read Joanne M. Harris's The Gospel of Loki. Why? Because this is the same writer of the Chocolat series which I adore. So I know I can trust her writing. And...it is just over 300 pages long, so no 400 or 500+ pages of "Norse" mythology to suffer throughread! If not for locating this one book, I don't know if I would bother with this prompt! LOL

And...that takes care of 2023 Popsugar prompt #5 A book with mythical creatures! YES!!

I purchased a copy of Island of the Aunts for $1 from my favorite used bookstore a couple of years ago and have yet to read it. Perhaps now!

Red Island House was so well-written. It depicted some of those 'ethical dilemmas' associated with the rich living amongst the poor in a luxurious tropical island setting.

Ooohhh...Between the World and Me is absolutely excellent! I especially appreciate Coates' theory that there is no one with truly "white" skin and by using that term, a dichotomy is immediately established, when in fact, all humans are either lighter-skinned or darker-skinned, but not either "BLACK" or "WHITE"! I'm trying to incorporate that wording into my vocabulary and eliminate those two words when describing people.

Although it is technically 5 pages too long, at 235 pages, I added The Cellist of Sarajevo anyway. It is such an amazing work, IMO! Detailing the daily lives of people under siege/at war.

The Cat Who Saved Books is the January 2023 selection for one of my IRL book clubs! Perfect at 198 pages!

Carpentaria was the 23rd for me!

Yes! Cleopatra: A Life! Been meaning to read this for a couple of years now!

Milena wrote: "I read Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love a few ago. Highly recommend.
I will probably read [book:The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Futur..."
Yeah, Inheritance looks to be a good one! I can attest that TCB was an excellent read!

My immediate thought is to Temple Grandin's books, especially Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism which I believe everyone should read just to get a better "picture" (Sorry, just had to do that! LOL) of others' ways of understanding everyday life!

Also, two other books about autism that I want to read:
NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity
In a Different Key: The Story of Autism

I'm sure there are many others regarding neurodiversity! :)

I find Ayelet Waldman Mommy-Track mysteries to be easy enjoyable reads overall, so will read Bye-Bye, Black Sheep for this prompt!

Nadine in NY wrote: "Erica wrote: "L Y N N wrote: "Although it doesn't truly fit the category as worded, it definitely fits!
The Library Book by Susan Orlean has been in my house for sev...

Ahhhhhhh!!!! I never noticed the little flame!!! adding this to my short list of ideas for this category ..."
Ha! Ha! I don't know if it's good or bad that we both missed that! :)

Bea wrote: "L Y N N wrote: "Although it doesn't truly fit the category as worded, it definitely fits!
The Library Book by Susan Orlean has been in my house for several years and...

I have that book planned for #25 text on cover. I didn't notice the little flame!"
Thank you for making me feel so much better! I hadn't noticed it either! :)

Erica wrote: "L Y N N wrote: "Although it doesn't truly fit the category as worded, it definitely fits!
The Library Book by Susan Orlean has been in my house for several years and...

There is a little flame on the cover so it counts. I really enjoyed that book so hopefully you will too."
Oh, my! You are so correct! I didn't have my copy in hand, and totally overlooked it on the Goodreads cover image! YAY! So it does fit!!

I can't imagine it won't be fascinating! She was describing her inability to actually "burn" a book so that she could watch and take notes for accurate descriptive detail for her writing. She just wasn't able to set fire to an intact book...so her husband did it for her! LOL