Jess’s Comments (group member since Oct 04, 2017)

Jess’s comments from the Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge group.

Hey friends and readers! I haven't checked in for a minute. Today is a great day for computer work as we have 30 mph winds today. Why are winds always on trash pick up day? lol. Last weekend my husband and I completed our first 10k race. It was my first time running over 4.75 miles so it was a very big accomplishment. I love running! We are gonna do the half-marathon next year. It definitely cut into my reading a bit.

Read:5
PS:4
ATY:3

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Finished
poetry isn't really my thing so I don't feel right rating this
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DNF's

New Movies Seen
Self-Reliance on Hulu. It was weird

QT TV Show
Watched an episode of Chasing Flavor with Carla Hall. It was about the history of ice cream. Pretty interesting. I'm lactose intolerant and cannot do ice cream but still. lol

Question of the Week
My mom was awesome about trusting me to read what I wanted without any restrictions. I believe my grandparents were the same with her although I believe they had some biases against comic books. Anyway we had open dialogue that if I had questions. When I was an infant she read books like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to me. I'm very much the same with my daughter. She has very macabre book taste and will talk to me about things she has questions about or just what she wants to read in general. If it's something in the book that she knows is super triggering for me she will talk to my her dad. She reads way above her grade level and I think knowing that she is trusted to use her own discretion helps with that.

Hey there. In a bit of a funk this week. Trying to pull myself out of it but it is what it is. At least it is pretty outside.

Read:24
PS:14/50
ATY:15/52

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Question of the Week
Pen name for sure.

Hey there friends and readers. It's a semi-gloomy and chilly day in Vegas. My daughter has a psych project this week where she is parenting a pair of eggs. I will be egg sitting this weekend while she has a date and a job interview. It's kind of fun. My husband is usually gone this week. Him and his buddies from out of state all hang out on the strip for the superb owl. Since it is here this year he is staying home, I don't like football (although I'm fully invested in the Kelce's thanks to Taylor) but we have ordered some Italian and Nothing Bundt so that's fun. I will probably just play on my switch while he screams at the tv. Good stuff.

Currently Reading
(had to wait for my 15 hours of spotify to reset for this one)

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New Movies Seen
Argylle.
Well kind of. We left the theatre after an hour because all three of us agreed it was basically the worst movie we had ever seen and we did not have the willpower to suffer through another hour and 20 minutes. (Tying to QOTW, the book was marketed as a "debut" but the "authors" are both well established screenwriters. The whole thing was a scheme. I feel bamboozled) I've only left a movie theatre twice in my life because the movie was so unwatchable, for reference.

QT TV Show
Hubs and I watch our show on Thursday so I feel a week behind on this. I'm gonna try to find something to watch with my daughter this week and might start a show on my own.

Question of the Week
Who is one of your current favorite debut authors? Sell their book to us!
Oh Man this is tricky. I really don't pay that much attention. I have found "debut" to be a confusing word in publishing tbh. Like someone has written 82 novels but then they move to another genre and are a "debut" again. That doesn't work inside my head so I largely just ignore that particular tag. It's like cage-free, does it actually mean anything or is it a marketing ploy.

Read:13
PS:12/50
ATY:13/52

Hey there and happy Thursday. It is currently rainy and gross where I am.

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DNF's

I tried. I really did. Ugh so boring.

New Movies Seen
50/50
Tried to watch The Green Knight based on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight but the cinematography was too dark. Couldn't see anything.

QT TV Show
Ted Lasso.

Question of the Week
Would you rather read one long (900ish-pages) book or three shorter (300-ish pages) books?
I do NOT like big books and I cannot lie. LOL. I get world building and epics and sometimes a book is worth 900 pages but it's not worth the risk to me. Plus I am impatient and lazy and I don't like carrying around a 70lb book.

Challenges
PS: 10/50
ATY: 11/52
Overall: 11

Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy Thursday!!  Welcome to February!!!  But how is it February already???  wasn't it just October??  Also, this week feels like it's been three weeks long and it's not even over yet.  What is goi..."

That's so cool about the flowers! As a desert rat who has only seen snow a few times in my life, I had no idea! Nature is wild!

Hey there. Another week down. Why does time go by so quickly? So I just found out that spotify premium will let you listen to 15 hours of audiobooks a month so I am trying to milk that for all it is worth. I kind of hate The Fury, waiting to see if I can get the audio from the library to finish it. I am less likely to dnf audio books than physical ones (unless the narrator is awful).

Has anyone got any ideas of where First Lie Wins would fit in this challenge?

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DNF's
None this week

New Movies Seen (Looks like it's an adaptation week)
Murder on the Orient Express (74)⭐⭐⭐
Not bad but hard to love when I've already seen what David Suchet brings to the table as Poirot
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar⭐⭐⭐
Super weird

QT TV Show
Ted Lasso. Just watched the first two episodes of season two and how dare they hit me so hard in the first 8 minutes!

Question of the Week
This question came from Theresa and echoes last week’s question a bit… Do you ever buy special editions of books you already own or have read?
Yes. And ones I haven't read. I spend my "fun" money, almost exclusively on books. I subscribe to Illumicrate, Fairy Loot and The Broken Binding.

Challenges
PS: 5/50
ATY: 6/52
Overall: 8

Hi there. First check in this year. I have been all over the place this week so grounding myself in book logging is a nice break. I've been trying to read for at least 10 minutes a day, but also watch more movies and having a show I can watch with my hubs weekly. So a lot of balance is required. I also have a pretty significant goal that ties to the qotw (see at the bottom)

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DNF's

Almost immediate distate for this one

New Movies Seen
Mean Girls the movie musical⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Beekeeper⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Holdovers⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QT TV Show
Ted Lasso (done through season 1. All the 🌟s. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!)

Question of the Week
Do you ever judge books by their covers?
Basically always. It is a problem. I will open a book I own and be completely shocked by the actual content. This leads to my biggest goal for 2024 and reading more of the book currently on my shelves (acquired prior to 24). So far I am doing well. All 5 I have read I shopped from my home as well as the DNF and 1 of my current reads.

Challenges
PS: 5/50
ATY: 5/52
Overall: 5

poshpenny is a BOOKSELLER wrote: "I'm checking in on a Thursday! WOOHOO!

Honestly this is probably mostly due to the fact that the weather has made it so I haven't worked in a week. I haven't even really looked outside, I think i..."

ATEEZ? That's really cool. My daughter is a huge Stray Kids fan but she listens to a lot of groups and ATEEZ is one of them. I'm second hand excited for you!!!

Also your comment on My Roommate Is a Vampire has me rolling

Jess Challenge

Books Read: 47

Books for Challenge: 35/50

✅️ - Completed
📖 - Currently Reading

1 A book with the word "leap" in the title
✅️2 A bildungsroman book

✅️3 A book about a 24-year-old

She mentioned being 24 during the story
✅️4 A book about a writer

5 A book about K-pop
✅️6 A book about pirates

7 A book about women's sports and/or by a woman athlete
✅️8 A book by a blind or visually impaired author

9 A book by a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing author
✅️10 A book by a self-published author

✅️11 A book from a genre you typically avoid

✅️12 A book from an animal's POV

✅️13 A book originally published under a pen name

✅️14 A book recommended by a bookseller

✅️15 A book recommended by a librarian

16 A book set 24 years before you were born
✅️17 A book set in a travel destination on your bucket list

✅️18 A book set in space

19 A book set in the future
✅️20 A book set in the snow

✅️21 A book that came out in a year that ends with "24"

22 A book that centers on video games
✅️23 A book that features dragons

24 A book that takes place over the course of 24 hours
25 A book that was published 24 years ago (2000)
✅️26 A book that was turned into a musical

Well this is a gender bent The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood and THAT has been made into a musical so I'm taking it
✅️27 A book where someone dies in the first chapter

✅️28 A book with a main character who's 42 years old

✅️29 A book with a neurodivergent main character

30 A book with a one-word title you had to look up in a dictionary
✅️31 A book with a title that is a complete sentence

✅️32 A book with an enemies to lovers plot

✅️33 A book with an unreliable narrator

(it may be a stretch but she says many times in the book "I am old and I am a liar")
✅️34 A book with at least 3 POVs

✅️35 A book with magical realism

✅️36 A book written by an incarcerated or formerly incarcerated person

✅️37 A book written during NaNoWriMo

✅️38 A cozy fantasy book

39 A fiction book by a trans or nonbinary author
✅️40 A horror book by a BIPOC author

41 A memoir that explores queerness
42 A nonfiction book about Indigenous people
✅️43 A second-chance romance

44 An autobiography by a woman in rock 'n' roll
✅️45 An LGBTQ+ romance novel

✅️46 A book in which a character sleeps for more than 24 hours

✅️47 A book with 24 letters in the title

✅️48 A collection of at least 24 poems

49 The 24th book of an author
50 A book that starts with the letter "X"

Hello one and all. Forcing myself to check in. My allergies are brutal today and like a lot of you have said, the world sucks, I mean everything on the news is bad.

I am is a semi-reading funk. I did finish one book but I don't really want to touch anything else and even cancelled my book club for the month (only one member besides myself ever reads the book and I checked with her first, she hadn't picked it up yet).

15/40 Regular
6/10 Advanced
33/75 Year

Finished

So cute. I absolutely loved this so much

Currently Reading



QotW:
Name at least one of your favorite characters from books you have read thus far in 2021. What did you specifically like about them?
Mary from Jamaica Inn. She is bold and brave and incredibly intelligent.

Honey-Belle for She Drives Me Crazy. She is sweet, loyal, and incredibly emotionally intelligent for a teenager.

Hello everyone. I haven't checked in for a few weeks. I have been massively out of it. So this is three weeks of updates. I hope everyone is doing well. The weather has been mostly lovely lately and I hope it stays spring like for a bit before we launch into 100 degree temperatures.

15/40 Regular
6/10 Advanced
32/75 Yearly

Finished:

A3/43-Prettiest Cover
I did the audio of this which was an error but the story is intense and well done. Du Maurier is quickly becoming a favorite of mine

27. About do-overs or fresh starts
A slow start but the second half absolutely stole my heart

13. Locked Room Mystery
I enjoyed this one. It was very twisty and kept me hooked

A2/42-Shortest on TBR
An Arabic translation set on a mythical island of the coast of Egypt this book was very good. It focused on many characters and the struggles of losing family, being controlled by hostile forces, and the power of the many when the few have stolen all the power.

39. A book everyone has read but me(at least based on what bookstagram tells me)
I thought this was pretty fun.

Currently Reading


DNF


Neither of them are bad, I just was not in the right frame of mind to get into them



QotW:
This week's question is from Lauren (I think you suggested this last year! do you still remember?)
Are you also a writer, in addition to being a reader? If so, what type of books do you write?
I do some writing. I participated in one NaNoWriMo but didn't get through. That project was contemporary fiction. I do some short stories as well but so far just for myself not the public

Hello everyone. It's been a weird week and I'm in a reading funk. Audio or bust for me right now. Hope everyone is well and staying safe with the weather

12/40 Regular
4/10 Advanced
27/75 Year

Finished

34. A book about a social justice issue
Holy crap this book was intense and awesome and jaw dropping.

Sweet, young adult debut involving an audition and a roadtrip. So fun.

Currently Reading



QotW:
Has there been a time that the book you are reading has consumed you to the point of totally overlooking a responsibility or commitment? What book was that? What did you neglect to do?
I'm pretty compulsive about responsibilities but I have neglected sleep many, many times to read. Last night Girls with Bright Futures assisted me in going to be way past my bedtime

Hello everyone. Hope you are all doing well.

11/40 Regular
4/10 Advanced
25/75 Total

Finished

49 or 9A. A DNF from your TBR
Can't wait for the movie tmw. Cute ending to a altogether sweet series.

36. Less than 1000 reviews
People are loving it. I do not share those feelings.

Absolutely incredible. Original, painful, riveting.

1 hour of nonsense. Save your eardrums

Currently Reading



QotW:
Which 21st century novels do you think will become classics?
I am not sure. I would nominate A Man Called Ove and The Thirteenth Tale. That is the only thing I can think of off the top of my head.

Hello everybody! Hope everyone is doing well. Currently watching The Masked Dancer with my daughter. I will go with anything that gets her to want to hang out with me...#teenagers

*Did anybody else have problems with the add book feature? It's acting up for me after the 3rd book. Very odd. I had to switch up searching by author and went through 14 pages to find Kindred!

10/40 Regular
3/10 Advanced
19/75 Total

Finished:

Interesting continuation of The Folk of the Air Trilogy. Fills in some of the holes

32. Starts with q
Loved this whole series

Except this one. 1.5 of The Cruel Prince this was super meh

5. Dark academia
Lots of buildup to nothing

Different format-graphic e-book
This was really cute. Super inclusive and fun story with great graphics

Currently Reading


QotW:
This week’s question comes from Jennifer!
If you see a book is a retelling or based on another book, do you feel compelled to read the original first?
I am going to go with no. I don't like a lot of classic literature. Jane Austin for instance. Great stories but I can't get through them because of the language and honestly they bore me. I know the concepts and stories are amazing though so I would definitely read a retelling.

Hello. January has been my best month of reading ever. 15 books so far and I am hoping to get through two more. I am very happy with this progress.

7/40 Regular
3/10 Advanced
15/75 Total

Finished

17. Same title as a song
This is so good in a weird way. Don't read any reviews first. Not knowing is the best way

7A or 47. Book on TBR I associate with a favorite person
Dramatic and enthralling. I want to read everything Du Maurier has written

40. Previous year prompt
2015 Non Human Character - Faeries
Sequel to The Cruel Prince. I absolutely love this story. Can't wait to read the next one!

Currently Reading



QotW:
Do you have a favorite celebrity book club that you follow?
I like the idea that celebs are making reading "cool" again to previous non-readers. I keep and eye on Reese's and Belletrist (which is led by Emma Roberts and her BFF). When Emma Watson had Our Shared Shelf I liked that as well.

Christy wrote: "Hello everyone! Hooray for rejoining the Paris climate accord is what I have to say!

This week I finished:
The Five Red Herrings (my best friend would like it): This is such an imp..."

I love subscription boxes. I did Once Upon a Book Box for a bit. I got bored though. I started Owl Crate in December and I am loving it. I would love to know how you like Unplugged. I'm going to go look up the other one now!

Hello everyone. Hope that everyone is having a wonderful week,. I feel lighter and full of hope for the future personally.

January has been a great month reading wise for me so far. I have read a couple of stinkers but I am burning through some books.

5/40 Regular
2/10 Advanced
12/75 Overall

Finished

14. Set in a restaurant
Cute. Family drama. Fun and light read

12. Saw on someone's bookshelf(saw it on bookstagram)
Diverse, inclusive graphic novel about supernatural elements in the backstage area of an all-boys school. Theatre geeks rejoice

Continuation of the first book.

Small sections of Valentine and Halloween themed snippets.

6. Book with a gem, mineral, or rock in title
Interesting supernatural mystery although it was a bit too easy to get lost.

If you like the queer eye's keep an eye out for this one that comes out in September. Polish bahn mi. Yes please.

Currently Reading




QotW:
From Carmen: Do you have a way of rewarding yourself for reading?
My reward for reading is new books. New books are also my reward for not reading, washing dishes, and breathing. lol

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well. Still hoping these first weeks of 2021 are just leftovers from last year and that things will take a turn for the positive soon.

2/40 Regular
2/10 Advanced
6/75 Year

Finished

37. A book my bff would like
Loved this so much. Can't wait to read the rest of the series

29. Set in multiple countries
I did not like this book but it did make me want to travel


Currently Reading




Question of the Week
What’s on your “book bucket list”? (ex: big classic works that you feel you should read, or anything really)
I don't know if I would call it a bucket list because if I don't like it I am not going to read it. I have a poster from Uncommon Goods with 100 books to read. I think , , and are the closest things I have to a bucket list.

I had written a post last night but I actually hit back instead of x when adding a book and lost everything. SMH. I had decided to put a little info about finished books this year. So that was a frustrating loss. Oh well.

I am off to a pretty good start.

0/40 Regular
2/10 Advanced
3/75 Overall

Finished

48/8A-Chosen at random from TBR
This has been sitting on my audible shelf for a couple years. It is so good. I can't believe I put it off so long!

44/4A-Uglies cover on TBR
This was not good.

Really cute way to introduce kids to classics

Currently Reading




QotD: Last book I really disliked
Pizza Girl. I think the author was trying to go for damaged but everything just seemed for shock value or continuing previous shock statements. It wasn't good.

Usually I DNF a book if I hate it. So books don't usually get me unless they turn south at the very end. I have accidentally read the author Gail Giles twice (about 10 years apart) and both times the book has potential until the end where she jumps the sharknado into suck town.

Any ideas for Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows besides fresh start / do over?