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.

Ashley Marie wrote: "Happy Thursday from rainy northeast Ohio!

I don't feel like I got much read this week, although I did finish Fullmetal Alchemist (finally, after having started reading the manga in 2014) so that's something!"
That is definitely an achievement to honor! 👍

"Audio-wise, I've hit a full reading slump... although I might blame that on drowning in amazing new music releases, between Taylor Swift and Silk Sonic and Adele and and and. I have a stack of audiobooks (can you have a stack, since they're not physical books?) but my brain wanted a break and has not been interested in any of them all week."
I believe we all need a reading break every now and then!

"I also spent yesterday educating myself about the "feud" between Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon - one of my favorite ongoing comedy bits (it's been going on for over a decade, probably closer to 15yrs at this point). Time well spent, lemme tell you."
You made me laugh! 😂

"Finished:
The Night Watchman - 3 stars. Maybe not the best Louise Erdrich starter book; the narrative was disjointed and broken up by a lot of small tangents and wasn't quite my thing. Unfortunate, but you can't love everything!"
Sorry this didn't work super-well for you! 😳

"Currently:
Sandman #6 - Fables & Reflections - This one lost me for a short while after/during the Roman segment and I set it aside but then Marco Polo showed up and now we're into the Orpheus myth and I'm all HADESTOWNNNNN"
More laughter from me! LOL

"Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means - Barely at the 100-page mark in a 500+ page book. Oof."
I hope you're enjoying it. I have added it to my TBR listing and my favorite used bookstore has a used copy really cheap!

"PS 49/50"
So. Close. 😊

"What has been your least favorite Popsugar prompt for the 2021 Reading Challenge?
#7, where the MC works at your current/dream job - characters never work at my day job (I work in e-commerce) and I feel like too many books are about writers, so I got creative and tossed it over to my passion project in theatre. I loved Amberlough though and didn't expect it to work for any prompts, so that was fun.
#8, Women's Prize in Fiction - there are just so few books that have won this award, which makes it very restricting. Again, thankfully I loved Hamnet, but I definitely wouldn't keep this as a future prompt.
#13, Locked room mystery - A lot of the suggestion books were Agatha Christies, and I can't stand her LOL
#24, Muslim American author - again, unnecessarily restricting and I know a lot of us bent the rules because, why specifically American??
#30, Somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021 - Seeing as we're still (now coming up on 2022) pretty deep in a pandemic, this is nice for wishful thinking but it could've just been "somewhere you'd like to visit" and not have the year attached. (This probably shouldn't count as a "least favorite", I'm just griping now)"
You made me laugh! LOL

"#31, Book by a blogger/vlogger/etc - I don't keep up with bloggers, and self-help books are one of my most-loathed "genres". No thanks.
Advanced - prettiest/ugliest covers - these are so subjective, which = frustratingggg lol

...wow, that's a bunch. Bahahahaha!"
Hopefully that was a good cathartic release of frustration!! 😋

Tania wrote: "Good morning! We have been having cooler weather and it has been very pleasant. I spoke to my nephew (10) on the phone last night and he informed me that they had finished decorating the outside of the farmhouse for Christmas - They have a snowman that is taller than the roof of their front porch; I love it! My sister sent me a picture and it looks fantastic, although she has a few more surprises up her sleeve for them (she says there is a giant Santa on the way lol)."
I bet the children love that! It sounds fun!

"Good reading week this week, and good challenge week as well. I'm at 42/50 for the challenge."
Great!

"The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht - did not love, too fantastical for magical realism, I used this as a book that won the women's prize for fiction"
I read this last year and while I really loved the writing, this particular book was not a favorite for me...

"An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo - beautiful book of poetry, used for book by an indigenous author"
Though I am not a huge poetry fan, this looks interesting!

"The Dinner by Herman Koch - this should really be in the horror category, IMHO. Yikes! Used for a book set in a restaurant, as the story took place over a dinner."
I don't think I would enjoy this. Especially if you feel it should be classified as "horror," since I don't do horror well at all!

"The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin - inspiring, truthful, very powerful and still very relevant all these years later. Used as a book on a Black Lives Matter reading list"
I read this two years ago and had the same reaction. I now own Jesmyn Ward's The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, but want to reread this before reading that one. Perhaps I'll put that on my 2022 "must-read" list!

"What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - such a fun and informative children's book. Used as a book by a Muslim American author"
This looks great! 👍

"QOTW: I'm glad I'm not the only one who disliked several categories. There were some that just took too much work to fill, and as you say I was still unsure after all that whether the book truly fit. Also I was trying to use books from my TBR or the library (Libby), and again just such a difficult task once I'd actually found a book that worked to find it in either of those places.

Oxymoron and Locked Room Mystery were on the list of difficult to find a match. My locked room mystery was billed as a locked room mystery on several lists and on the cover, but the window was open so I call nonsense. Afrofuturist had such a controversial list - this is, this isn't, this is, this isn't - I just finally picked something that had the least controversy. Longest book, prettiest book, and ugliest book were on the list of difficult to choose - prettiest and ugliest just ended up being pretty and not pretty because I don't even like that kind of judgement. Also I'm running out of formats that I don't read, so I need that category to stop. And I was very unhappy to have another category where I had to look at someone else's books - this time a bookshelf, and by the way even though there are lots of those shown on TV, it's usually to blurry to properly see what's up there (and find something either already on my bookshelf or in Libby). And imagine my horror to learn that in 2022, a challenge I was planning to do again has another category where I have to look at someone else's books."
I hope you at least had some enjoyable reads out of all these prompts! I think I'm just willing to go with my own interpretation and not worry about fulfilling most prompts absolutely verbatim! 😁

"So that's my laundry list of complaints. 8 more books to go in the challenge, and one of those the longest book, so fingers crossed."
Definitely! We have faith in you! 🤗

Nadine wrote: "Happy Thursday! Now the leaves are off both my maple and my birch tree (which means I can see into my neighbor's yard, which is always startling because I'm not used to it); we had our first snow, but it wasn't much. It's a reminder that I need to clean off my deck before the serious snow arrives."
We have likewise had a snowfall. Just enough to almost cover the ground, but not quite, and it was gone the next day!

"The Goodreads Choice Awards are open! And they are deeply disappointing this year! They took away all my favorites: the write-ins, the picture book category, and the science category. I'm not voting, there's just not enough there to justify it for me, I've read very few of the books they've chosen."
Wow. No write-ins? That seems unjust. I have skimmed through the nominations and added some to my TBR. I am torn in some of the categories...

"Admin stuff:
Our November group read of Firekeeper's Daughter is on-going - join the discussion here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."
OMG! I started reading this yesterday when I arrived home from book club and stayed up later than I should have. I am just halfway through but loving this one so far. I guess she lives in Indiana a rather short distance from my favorite used bookstore and the owner is considering asking her to do an author event at the store. There is no way I'll be able to stay up once I get home 9:30-10PM tonight to finish this, but imagine I will do so on Tuesday evening! Wow. I am blown away so far! And for a debut!

"Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley- I enjoyed this "mystery" (is it a mystery? general fiction? I don't know what genre to put this in) a lot, it's a GREAT debut, but it could have been tightened up a bit more. I look forward to the next book she writes!"
I think this is definitely one that combines several different genres!

"A Pho Love Story by Loan Le- a very sweet & charming romance, I also enjoyed this debut A LOT, but it could have been tightened up a bit more. And I look forward to the next book she writes! This would fit "set in a restaurant" if anyone still needs a book for that category."
Good to know about the restaurant setting!

"Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - I was mostly disappointed in this book, but I enjoyed some parts enough that I gave it 3 stars. But mostly I was disappointed."
Pretty sure I wouldn't enjoy this or Mexican Gothic, but I might read Gods of Jade and Shadow. Someday... 😁

"I'm still plugging away at my longest book, A History of the World in 100 Objects; "only" 36 chapters left! yeah, I'm never going to finish this book. I've also started two more Challenge books, so I'm almost at the end!"
Sure you will! I have faith in you!

"Question of the Week
What has been your least favorite Popsugar prompt for the 2021 Reading Challenge?"
Oh, boy! That opened the floodgates! LOL I admit I am so anxious to see the 2022 prompts! But I'm patiently sitting on my hands and waiting... 😊

"Maybe I should have waited for Festivus to post this question, because I've got a lot of grievances with the Challenge this year!! There were A LOT of categories I didn't like, but these five top my list. (Interestingly, and conversely, I've had a good reading year with the Challenge and enjoyed most of the books I've read. So maybe they WERE good categories after all ...)"
That's cool! Although you weren't particularly thrilled with the prompts, you still managed to find books you truly enjoyed! I think that's a win! 😉

Yesterday and today went well at work. The big project is done! Tomorrow is another big day, but then the weekend. And I only have to work next Monday and Tuesday, then a ‘5-day weekend’!! 😊 I cannot wait! It is 8:30PM on Thursday evening here as I post this and I’m going to feed the feline herd and then go to bed!! I am exhausted. I’m way too old for this workin’ full time!! LOL

One-third to one-half of our leaves are still on the trees, but I assume by next week there won't be many left...

Admin Stuff:
Don’t forget that we are reading and discussing The Firekeeper's Daughter by Karola Renard this month. You can find that thread here. Picked up my copy last weekend! Ready for this weekend's reading!

In addition to that, as usual, we have a discussion thread where you can post any other books you’ve read that would fulfill prompt #16 A book written by an indigenous author.

Question of the Week:
What has been your least favorite POPSUGAR prompt for the 2021 Reading Challenge?
In answering this question I realized that if not for the Listopias and all of us contributing to those as well as listing and commenting on the books we read and plan to read in the Weekly Check-In posts and in threads for each prompt, I would have been hard pressed to fulfill so many of the 2021 prompts! It is our willingness to share our reading experiences and plans with each other that helps me most in fulfilling prompts! That is soooooo cool!! YAY US!

A book with something broken on the cover
Fortunately, I had a perfect book for that in Waldman’s mystery series! But if I hadn’t immediately thought of that one, I might have been stumped!
Nursery Crimes (A Mommy-Track Mystery #1) by Ayelet Waldman

A book with an oxymoron in the title
Again, fortunately, I had a favorite series that perfectly fit this category (a “kid” could never truly work as a “lawyer,” right?!?) But if not, this might have been much more difficult to fulfill…
Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer (Theodore Boone #1) by John Grisham
Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth
Though you might think it impossible, Stallworth pulled this off quite long ago, way before the internet, etc. Still fun to read about how he fooled those “haters” in the KKK!
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
I didn’t really feel this fit the prompt well, but it’s close, IMO! (Unlike you, Nadine, I do not view that as “cheating”! LOL A prompt is there to be stretched, IMO!) 😉

A book whose title starts with “Q,” “X,” or “Z”
This was tough! Luckily, I was reading Ender’s Saga series!
Xenocide (Ender's Saga #3) by Orson Scott Card

A book with a family tree
This would have been impossible for me if not for the listopia, etc.! Though these two books were already “scheduled” for this year. 😊 Hopefully, I’ll get to Love Medicine next year!
Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Game #2) by Orson Scott Card
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill (The Bookish Life of Nina Hill #1) by Abbi Waxman
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

Popsugar: 46/50
ATY: 50/52
RHC: 18/24
Reading Women: 15/28
I finished only one book this week! 🙁 That reflects the time, energy, and stress of this major project at work… But I did manage to make some progress in three other books as well!

FINISHED:
The Laws by Connie Palmen ⭐️⭐️ was not an enjoyable experience for me. I was rather reminded of Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook in that I had to literally force myself to keep reading to the end. I kept thinking, “Surely this will improve…” I could relate to the references to phenomenology and the fact that without language there is no “reality” or “understanding” of the world. It is through shared meaning of words that we construct our reality as a society/culture. Other than that, I found Marie’s character to be scary in her persistence to define herself and the meaning of her life through the men or man in her life at that moment. I guess that was the point, but I did not particularly enjoy the story arc or the writing style.
POPSUGAR: #30-Amsterdam/Netherlands, #36-163 reviews on Goodreads, #44
ATY: #8-Amsterdam/Netherlands, NEW #12, #20-Unfortunately, I don’t even care about Marie’s future…, #26, #31, #37, #52-In the end, I was just glad to have finished reading it so I could move on!
RHC: #1-Just had a feeling it might not be a favorite read…, #13

CONTINUING:
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride In The History of Queer Liberation by Leighton Brown and Matthew L. Riemer
I am finding this to be fascinating, especially as many of the photographs are from the 60s and 70s. Since I’m old that makes it even more interesting to me.
For my favorite used bookstore book club this coming Sunday:
Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala
I’ve read the first 20 pages and I think I will enjoy this one! It should definitely prompt discussion.

PLANNED:
My one November Buddy Read:
Roses Are Red (Alex Cross #6) by James Patterson
For the POSUGAR Monthly Group read in November:
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
For Literary Wives December 6:
The Summer Wives: A Novel by Beatriz Williams
And the others that are waiting patiently...
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #26 A book written by Isabel Allende.
Paradise by Toni Morrison to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #25 A book written by Toni Morrison.
In the future sometime, G.Willow Wilson's books I want to read:
The Bird King
Alif the Unseen

I am totally drawing a blank on this one! I'm sure there are books out there, but none are coming to mind...

The one Popsugar has listed is Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, so I added it to the Listopia.

Listopia is here

I am totally drawing a blank on this one! I'm sure there are books out there, but none are coming to mind...

The one Popsugar has listed is Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, so I added it to the Listopia.

Listopia is here

The first one that came to my mind was Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. Definitely not a favorite read for me, but it is a true match for this prompt. What else?

Listopia is here

My first reaction: "Say what?!?" LOL

Popsugar is listing One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Actually, I think Fates and Furies would also work for this prompt as well as prompt #48 A book with two POVs, but I could be wrong...

What others?

Listopia is here

Popsugar is listing American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson. As I recall, Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross #2) by James Patterson would work here. (Goodreads wouldn't pull the link...)

What others?

Listopia is here

I drew a total blank right now, but Popsugar has listed The Wrath and the Dawn and The Rose & the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh

H-h-e-e-l-l-p-p!! 😲

Listopia is here

Oh, boy. Again, I'm useless. Popsugar has listed MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood.

What others?

Listopia is here

Patricia wrote: "Hi! My week isn't stressful at all."
Enjoy! I am jealous! LOL

"Question of the Week:
Do you have any specific books you would recommend to fulfill multiple prompts from the 2021 Popsugar reading challenge? What is that book and what prompts could it fulfill?

I think The Night Circus for a book about Magical realism and set in multiple countries."
Thanks!

Nadine wrote: "Lindsey wrote: "Nadine wrote: "I'm about 20% into the book now. The author interview and the GR blurb both give away info that you don't learn right away. I can't decide how I feel about that. Did ..."
Huh. Well, after reading these comments I'm going to ignore everything until I have read the book. I'd rather not be clued in beforehand...

Nadine wrote:
"5. Hockey is a huge part of this book. Do you watch hockey? Who is your favorite team?"

Nope. All sports are boring to me. I really could not care less about any of them. But I'm from NJ, so my favorite team is the Devils. I went to Cornell for undergrad, and Cornell sucks at almost all major college sports, but they are usually pretty good at ice hockey, so they are my favorite college team :-)"
I didn't realize we had this "I could not care less about sports" attitude in common! Cool! (I believe we are definitely in the minority, but that's okay with me!) LOL

Lindsey wrote: "🗳 Let's Take a Vote! 🗳

If you were approached by the FBI to go undercover, would you?

1 - Yes - time to figure it out!!

2 - No - I might blow my cover!!

How did you vote??"
Not at my age. I probably would have if I was still in my 20s or 30s.

1. This was picked for prompt #16 A book written by an indigenous author, in honor of Native American Heritage month in the US. Will you be using the book for this prompt? If not, which one are you using it for and which book did you read for prompt #16?
I have no idea which POPSUGAR prompt I might use this to fulfill at this time, but always glad to read more written by a Native American!
I have read these books which would fulfill prompt #16:
*We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
January 19 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
May 23 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
August 22 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*Our Harlem: Seven Days of Cooking, Music and Soul at the Red Rooster by Marcus Samuelsson
September 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat
October 9 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

These are not all "Native American," but also indigenous from cultures/countries other than the U.S.

2. What other books have you read by Indigenous authors? Any that you recommend to the group to add to their TBR piles?
Louise Erdrich and Marcus Samuelsson are two of the indigenous authors I've really enjoyed.

3. This is a YA book. Do you normally read this genre? If so, what other YA books would you recommend to the group?
Yes, I have read more YA in the past 3-4 years than in all my life prior to that!

4. This book is also a mystery to be solved as Daunis tries to figure out what really happened to her Uncle. Do you enjoy reading mysteries?
Love 'em!

5. Hockey is a huge part of this book. Do you watch hockey? Who is your favorite team?
I don't do sports. Although I adore Fredrik Backman's Beartown series!

Katy wrote: "I finished The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero. very interesting."
Glad you enjoyed it. As I recall, that was rather long.

"I read The Ragman's Memory which was OK. Archer Mayor kind of gets on my nerves with his geographical descriptions. Whenever his m ain character is driving, it's like "I was driving down Western Avenue and then took the fork that led on to High Street. At the bottom of the hill I turned left on Main Street, heading towards Putney Road and on up towards Dummerston." Does any author do that? Or does it just annoy me because I am familiar with the roads?"
Huh. I don't know. I guess that doesn't bother me...

"I have just started Shakespeare's Wife which for some reason I thought was a historical novel, but I think it's a biography. Whic his fine."
You are correct. It is a biography!

"QOTW: The Girl with the Pearl Earring for gemstone, best seller from the '90s and a book about an artist. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (which I realy really really loved) as a bestseller from the 90s and a book that takes place outdoors.."
Great! Thanks!

Ashley Marie wrote: "Happy Thursday and happy Veterans Day! My maternal granddad served in the USAF in the Korean conflict, and my paternal grandfather was a master sergeant in the US Army in WWII. I know very little about granddad's time in the air force, and have one or two pictures and certificates, but the army officer ended up in Belgium and the Netherlands as part of the 603rd Quartermaster Graves Registration Company. He didn't talk much about his time in the military but there were a few stories, and he assured me that if I ever needed him to come speak at school or anything like that, he would be happy to do so. I'm rather sad now that it never materialized."
Wow. You could have been 'famous' in elementary school! At least for that one day! 😊

"Ugh, Lynn, work events always sound terrible between the logistics and pressure and everything else. Good luck!!"
Yeah, just UGH about work period! LOL

"Finished:
Fatherland - 4 stars. Another good one from Robert Harris!"
That's such a scary premise! Eeeewwwww...

"Currently:
The Night Watchman - This ventures off on plenty of tangents, but when we get the narrative stuff I'm very intrigued. Should finish today."
I enjoyed it.

"Where White Men Fear to Tread: The Autobiography of Russell Means - Fully expecting this chonker to take me all month lol"
You made me laugh!

"QOTW: Do you have any specific books you would recommend to fulfill multiple prompts from the 2021 Popsugar reading challenge? What is that book and what prompts could it fulfill?
There have been a few I've been able to mix-and-match; The Anatomist's Wife worked for Book about art or an artist/Place you want to visit. Legendborn works for Dark academia/Family tree/Published in 2021."
Thanks for the suggestions!

This week is a last-minute rush to finalize details for a major departmental event to be held next week. Wish me luck! I’m trying not to stress, but caterers, etc., are doing it to me! LOL 😊

I hope everyone else’s week is not nearly as stressful!!

This is Veteran’s Day in the U.S. A woman at the gym was telling me she and her daughter placed flags on veterans’ graves in a local cemetery yesterday and will collect them next Wednesday. That is an admirable task, IMO! My former father-in-law was a veteran of World War II. He had some stories…

Admin Stuff:
Don’t forget that we are reading and discussing The Firekeeper's Daughter by Karola Renard this month. You can find that thread here. I have yet to pickup my copy. Maybe this weekend...

In addition to that, as usual, we have a discussion thread where you can post any other books you’ve read that would fulfill prompt #16 A book written by an indigenous author.

Popsugar: 46/50
ATY: 49/52
RHC: 18/24
Reading Women: 15/28

Question of the Week:
Do you have any specific books you would recommend to fulfill multiple prompts from the 2021 Popsugar reading challenge? What is that book and what prompts could it fulfill?

I’m totally cheating with my answer since I list each prompt I could fulfill with each book I finish. I never cease to be amazed at how many POPSUGAR (and ATY) prompts one book can fulfill!

Just in case someone out there is still searching for a book and they don’t mind counting one book for more than one prompt, your answers this week might help them find a book they’ll enjoy reading and will help them complete the challenge. 😊 (Apologies to those who find “double-dipping” to be a horrid concept and/or sin!)

FINISHED:
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was a very poignant story. Very sweet. How a family can be formed amongst former strangers. I particularly appreciated the housekeeper’s attitude of unconditional positive regard—her ability to not be put off by the professor’s unique situation and coping behaviors. A quiet read, but a bit sad as well.
POPSUGAR: #4, #16, #18-Unconditional positive regard ; respect, acceptance, and appreciation for all!, #27, #30-Japan, #34-Accommodation of special needs, #37, #43
ATY: #1-In the beginning it was difficult to imagine how to successfully communicate with the professor, #6-Definitely! Though nothing to do with romance!, #8-Japan, #9-Summer, #18-Past relationships can make the present and future more meaningful and enjoyable, #26, #27-Death, Judgment, The World, #29, #31, #34, #36, #40, #41, #49, #51
RHC: #1-Was uncertain about a translation from Japanese, NEW #3
Reading Women: NEW #28

The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ was absolutely fascinating. A truly honest and well-written accounting of an “American woman” and her attraction to the Mideast and Islam; her resulting conversion and life in Egypt. Listening to her at the author event and meeting her afterward was a real treat! I really want a follow-up/sequel to this, however. They now live in Seattle and have children! I want to know all about their move to the U.S. and how Omar is handling that after being born and raised in Egypt.
POPSUGAR: #7-A writer!, #18- Peaceful coexistence and unconditional positive regard! (Respect, acceptance, and appreciation for all!), #21-Autobiography/Memoir, Religion, #24, #28, #30-Egypt, #34-Unconditional positive regard for all!, #36-524 reviews on Goodreads, #37, #38-Willow is a writer!, #47-Pretty sure Wilson will be one of my favorite authors and her author event was the first one I attended during the COVID pandemic (November 2021)
ATY: #1-In the beginning, Willow was just searching for a way to understand and “be” in the world, #2, #3-…whiskers on kittens… The pregnant kitty and the two surviving kittens!, #6, #8-Egypt, #9-Summer—it’s always hot!, #11-Set in Egypt!, #16, #17-both, #20-I would love to hear about Omar and Willow’s future life together!, #23-Autobiography/Memoir, Religion, #24, #27-Judgment, The World, #34, #35-Egypt, #36, #39, #51

CONTINUING:
The Laws by Connie Palmen is not exactly intriguing after the first 40 pages. I may start rotating this with the other two in order to finish... 😃
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

PLANNED:
My one November Buddy Read:
Roses Are Red (Alex Cross #6) by James Patterson
For the POSUGAR Monthly Group read in November:
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
For my favorite used bookstore book club in November:
Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala
For Literary Wives December 6:
The Summer Wives: A Novel by Beatriz Williams
And the others that are waiting patiently...
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #26 A book written by Isabel Allende.
Paradise by Toni Morrison to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #25 A book written by Toni Morrison.
In the future sometime, G.Willow Wilson's books I want to read:
The Bird King
Alif the Unseen

Ashley Marie wrote: "Good chilly morning, all! I've woken up to frost on the car these past two mornings, but I'll take it over snow any day. The outdoorsy cat has been staying inside in the mornings, eschewing her usual routine of slipping outside after breakfast. She knows it's cold and the house is toasty :)"
That cat is no dummy! LOL I agree. No snow! LOL 🤨

"I've finagled my PS challenge around so I only need one more to complete all 50 :D Hoping to read Get a Life, Chloe Brown in December."
Ooohhh...I plan to read this in November or December as well!

"Meanwhile, books I finished this week:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - 5 stars, reread. I love this story, especially on audiobook. It's 95% atmosphere and descriptions and not as much action as most people tend to assume, based on the various adaptations. Perfect Halloween story."
I guess I've never read this!

"The Arctic Fury - 2 stars. The dual timelines didn't help matters. I was expecting a harrowing story of women surviving in the ferocious Arctic, and I got a legal drama with bits of Arctic suspense thrown in. Very disappointed, but I know a lot of people who enjoyed this one. I have one other Macallister book on my shelf and I'll give it a go before giving up on her."
But...it looks as if it would be so good!!! LOL

"PS 49/50"
Just one more!

"Upcoming:
The Night Watchman"
I thought this was good.

"QOTW: Do your tastes generally match up with the winners of the Goodreads Choice Awards, or are you usually disappointed in the winners chosen for each category?
Ish? It depends. I've been making more of an effort this past year or two to read more new releases, so I'm more in the know about the books that are nominated/winning. I used to not vote for a book unless I'd read it, but that rule got tossed aside awhile ago."
I feel the same way. I do not like voting for books without having read them, but I started doing it anyway! LOL 😊