Erica’s Comments (group member since Apr 05, 2019)
Erica’s
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from the Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge group.
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Happy check-in! We're under a rainfall warning but it hasn't started to rain yet. So we'll see how the night goes.I'm rather sad about my hockey team, the Pittsburg Penguins, who lost Sidney Crosby to a injury yet again last night when he has been playing and leading so amazingly. Though there are still three Canadian teams to cheer for.
Finished Reading:
Gunmetal Magic Magic Rises ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The next two books in my reread of this beloved series.
Under One Roof ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ali Hazelwood's new novella, the first of three being published this year. Quick enemies to lovers could be used for ace character.
How to Pronounce Knife: Stories ⭐⭐⭐(2015 Giller Prize winner)
A collection of short stories about immigrants from Laos in Canada. This won the top book prize in Canada for 2020.
Unlock Your Storybook Heart ⭐⭐
New Amanda Lovelace poetry collection. More free verse than her usual poems and I was disappointed. Her other books have been 4 or 5 stars for me.
Spy x Family, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 translated)
So a manga about a spy who needs a wife and kid for a mission. He finds, unbeknownst to him, an assassin for a spouse and a telekinetic child. I laughed out loud a lot.
Shipped ⭐⭐⭐
Random pick from the library. Enemies to lovers on a cruise ship.
PS 2022 37/50
PS 2015 34/50
Goodreads 115/200
QOTW:
Maybe This Is How You Lose the Time War.
Title: Year of the ReaperAuthor: Makiia Lucier
I would definitely recommend this book. I borrowed it because this prompt was challenging and it was available at the library. I started reading and couldn't stop so I read this early on in the year. I really enjoyed the characters but be warned this is a plague book.
Happy check-in! I've spent the last week binging a favourite series because it turned 15 last month. Also I decided to see if I can manage to not add to my tbr this month. This means none of you can talk about interesting books. ;) I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen. :)Finished Reading:
Magic Bites Magic Burns Magic Strikes Magic Bleeds Magic Slays ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 down, 7 to go. Anyway set in 2060s Atlanta when magic showed up in 2024. Book four was funny for new reasons due to covid. It has a villain who brings plagues and in the book world 2019 had a major law put in place to deal with pandemics.
Inheritance: A Visual Poem ⭐⭐
I just borrowed this because it was Elizabeth Acevedo. She took one of her popular spoken word poems and paired it with an artist. The art was good, but stretching the lines so they could match artwork took away from the poem and left me confused.
M C Escher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 starts with the last letter of previous book)
A lovely coffee table book with a bunch of Escher prints. Used it for this prompt because it's annoying and I want it done.
PS 2022 37/50
PS 2015 32/50
Goodreads 110/200
Currently Reading:
Gunmetal Magic
Book of Night
QOTW:
I have a lot of 5 star ratings, but whether I'll reread something or not is how I define top notch. So too many to list.
Happy check-in! Pushed to finish two books before checking in and unfortunately both were duds. Anyway it's at least warming up here enough that it's pleasant to be outside and you don't need a coat. :)Finished Reading:
Chaos Choreography ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 double life)
This is book 6 from a solid urban fantasy series. I gave an extra star for the homage to So You Think You Can Dance. So 5 more in this series and 3 in the spin-off to go!
The Blood Trials ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 first book of a duology)
This was a random pick from overdrive and I really enjoyed it. This has some commonalities with The Hunger Games and Red Rising but it actually has humour despite being quite dark. A great author debut. I'm going to have to use a different series for the second book duology prompt because this is newly published and the sequel won't be out to finish this challenge.
The War of the Worlds ⭐⭐⭐ (2022 Hugo Winner)
I'm glad I read this classic sci-fi but the main character is a philosopher so a lot of his observations were tedious for me. The science still seems to be believable, but I wouldn't know enough to say it didn't.
With the Fire on High ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 has a recipe)
I love to cook so following a teen mom find her way through her culinary class was great. The main character's reaction to her first cooking class was much the same as mine for home ec. I didn't like following a recipe exactly, still don't. ;)
Eleanor & Park ⭐ (2022 set in the 1980s)
So when it's a teenage love story, and the author keeps mentioning Romeo & Juliet, you shouldn't be cheering for a tragic ending to happen soon. (I didn't get my wish fyi) I found the two characters to be obnoxious and creepy. Lots of reviews negatively comment on the author's focus/word choices on race and I wanted to read for myself. The reviews were right.
The Circle Game ⭐⭐ (2015 popular author's first book)
I figured this was close enough to Margret Atwood's first book, especially in poetry. The first poem was fantastic but the rest were just words to me.
PS 2022 36/50
PS 2015 32/50
Goodreads 101/200
QOTW:
I've read This Is Paradise: Stories and Year of the Reaper this year for the Pacific Islander prompt and loved both.
I used Hunt the Stars.
There are stars in the sky on the cover that could be a constellation and the word stars in the title. This is a space opera with made up planets too. That was good enough for me.
I purposely have not watched the masked singer this season too many problematic things going on.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I get so mad whenever I remember season 4 exists! I'll never get over it ..."SAME!!!
Erica wrote: "Season 4 was so perfect until it wasn't. How are we supposed to [spoilers rem..."
True. Rob Thomas is at fault!
Happy Thursday! Finished Reading:
This Is Paradise: Stories ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was great to read about the Hawaiian Islands while it was blizzarding out.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Super adorable graphic novel.
To Marry and to Meddle ⭐⭐⭐
Decent historical romance although the plot was a little weak. I like book two of this series the best.
F in Exams: The Best Test Paper Blunders ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I giggled through the whole book, while groaning for the teachers that saw these exams.
Obit ⭐⭐ (2022 Anisfield-Wolf poetry award)
This is a neat concept but I have no idea how this won the Anisfield-Wolf award. The middle section also is so confusing.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 a book your mom loves)
This was cute, why couldn't we have been made to read this in school instead of The Crucible. The lessons on discrimination and labeling people as other/witch are still prevalent while being an enjoyable book.
Shakespeare's Sonnets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 owned but never read before)
The format is very pleasant I'll just have to keep rereading to understand some of it.
PS 2022 31/50
PS 2015 31/50
Goodreads 95/200
Currently Reading:
Chaos Choreography
QOTW:
I read these for sure, Buffy first and foremost. I read some of the Angel ones but I didn't like them as much. Alias books were really good and I'm kicking myself now that I put mine in a garage sale years ago. I enjoyed a couple of Veronica Mars ones too.
Caitlin wrote: "Just finished reading The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. Would this fall into "A Book Featuring A Parallel Reality?" Trying to have it fit in my challenge! Thank you!"I think this fits parallel reality because of the (view spoiler)
I thought it was Thursday too. Holiday weekends really mess things up.
Happy Christmas! ;) So we got hit with the side of that blizzard/storm that came up from Colorado. Fortunately it seems they over prepared us for bad weather and the storm ended up being milder. We still have shoveling but oh well we hadn't put the shovels away yet anyways.We'll be celebrating Easter with a ham dinner. Hope you all enjoy your various celebrations. Also there is a big recall for Kinder brand chocolates in Canada over salmonella, I don't know if it effects other countries, in case you haven't seen and bought some for kiddos.
Finished Reading:
Verity ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 mystery/thriller)
I had seen good reviews of this when it first came out years ago so I was glad that it lived up to the hype. There were great unlikable characters, and a good mystery. Good option for the BookTok prompt.
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories ⭐⭐⭐
These are all retelling of Perrault's fairy tales. I'm not really familiar with the originals but this had some strong stories and some weak ones.
The Lives of Saints ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I tried to read this when it first came out but I was in a mood so... This is for fans of the Grishaverse.
Unmanned ⭐⭐ (2022 social horror)
This was a disappointment. The author of Saga and a dystopian world where all but one man died should have been good. This is about 20 years old and it shows. The main character is also so whiny. The ending had a few glimmers of hope that's why it's a two rating and I'm hopeful that the next collection is better because all the characters are established so there will be page space for plot.
PS 2022 30/50
PS 2015 29/50
Goodreads 88/200
Currently Reading:
This Is Paradise: Stories
To Marry and to Meddle
QOTW:
I have done this a lot in the past but lately I haven't because I've been focused on knocking off prompts. I do reread series before new books often.
Ashley wrote: "Haven't seen this one mentioned yet... 
Clean Sweep
I need to read it for another challenge and wanted to see if I can make it fit here too!"
Well #40 is easiest because you pick a past prompt that works.
#25 a book about a secret seems the next best option because the inn's are hidden from humans. You could also say Dina lives a double life, #46, for the same reason.
Did you read Ilona Andrews last year?
Just finished Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma. I found it entertaining but some things were definitely ridiculous.
Happy check-in! It's one of those weird days here where the sun shines and it looks beautiful out but it's actually cool. We discovered that someone had been in the back shed last night. The rude person left the door open and didn't take the old scrap lattice. ;) Anyway nothing was taken, insert joke here.
Finished Reading:
In Every Generation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 From childhood)
A fresh start with the Buffyverse following Willow's teenage daughter Frankie, who suddenly is super strong. The author is clearly a Buffy fan and I'll forgive her for being a Spike/Buffy otp person. The humour in this was spot on. I am very interested in reading other works by Kendare Blake now.
So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y’all Don’t Even Know ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 Memoir)
I surprisingly have a lot in common with Retta. This didn't start so great for me but by the end I was laughing out loud at her stories.
The Phantom of the Opera: The Graphic Novel (Phantom of the Opera ⭐⭐
This was confusing and I didn't like the artwork that much.
Dating Dr. Dil ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 a pick based entirely on it's cover)
I requested this months ago and it came in while my feed kept showing bad reviews for this. All the books I was reading were taking effort to read so I started this because rom-coms are usually pretty easy reads. This was entertaining and had me laughing out loud. I should have read this for bicpoc romance instead of the BOTM.
Currently Reading:
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Verity
QOTW:
I read lots of ya and the most recent 5 star was this past week.
In Every Generation
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, The Poet X, and Red, White, and Whole were the best of this year.
The Halo video game has a tv series starting soon.
Carmen wrote: "Happy Birthday, Lynn! I am incredibly proud of you for making such a brave decision <33A quick check in from me. I know I forgot last week due to leaving for Disney, and I meant to check in today..."
I'm sorry about your furbaby. You've clearly gave her a good life with lots of love.
Happy check-in! I love Thursdays because of this thread. So yet another family health scare to raise the heart rate this week. Fingers crossed my vaccinated grandmother avoids catching covid when other people at her building are sick.Finished Reading:
One for All ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 two langauges english/french)
A Three Muskateers retelling with girls, the mc also has constant dizziness so you could stretch this for mobility aid due to the elevator she uses to avoid stairs. The first few chapters the mc is very whiny but she does grow out of it and gets some coping skills.
Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 4 ⭐⭐⭐
This was the best one yet. It didn't get four stars because there was a section of artwork that really was not good. This is an origin story for Erica and it sets up the spinoff series about the House of Slaughter nicely.
Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems ⭐⭐⭐⭐
So last week's QOTW made realize I hadn't read any or much poetry this year so I quickly went through overdrive. I misread the cover and thought this was a Pulitzer prize winner, which is a prompt I have. The author Rita Dove won a Pulitzer for her book in 1987 not this new collection but oh well. This kept getting stronger as the book went along.
Blackbird ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So the artwork is just as gorgeous as the cover suggests. There is a good urban fantasy story to go along. I'm sad that there doesn't seem to be more to this series, it must not have done well. :(
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic ⭐
My first one star read of the year. (although I have had a couple of dnfs) I recognize this is a memoir but my rating is about the writing and art choices. The fact that this has such high praise and has won awards now makes sense, it's so depressing! It also relies on the reader having read such fun things as books by Proust, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and Albert Camus. I really did not like the inclusion of handwritten letters that were illegible and not typed out for us to read. Nor did I need so many excerpts from her childhood journals. There are other things I could rant on but I'll stop now. Basically anything that gets a one star rating from me made me mad and it's on my never again shelf.
Winter's Orbit ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 recommended by a friend)
My sister has been pestering me to read this because she loved it so much. This is a great space opera but the political details do slow it down a bit which made the difference between four and five stars. The characters are great and adorable.
PS 2022 29/50
PS 2015 25/50
Goodreads 80/200
Currently Reading:
In Every Generation (why finish books I've started that the library wants to take back when I can start something new)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Sweep of the Heart
QOTW:
Free money to spend at the bookstore for shiny new things...
hardcover Kingdom of the Wicked
preorder Kingdom of the Feared (sept publishing date)
the hardcover collection of The Folk and the Air series by Holly Black
Then probably just complete series by favourite authors like Ilona Andrews and Kelley Armstrong.
I would really like to preorder new Saga but I don't think that's possible yet. :( At least it's finally back.
