Erica’s Comments (group member since Apr 05, 2019)

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

Just finished Red, White, and Whole which is holding down the ‘best book of the year’ position for me right now. It’s about a 13 year old girl in the eighties who is first generation American and doesn’t feel like she belongs to either of her cultures. This is done in verse so it was a quick read.

Just finished Year Of The Reaper and I gave it four stars. It is more historical fiction than fantasy, but it is made up countries. This is very much about a plague so be warned.

Caitlin wrote: "Hey all! Looking for help on where Crave by Tracy Wolff could fit?? Just finished reading it and thinking maybe "A book about a secret" but was hoping to use that for a different story. All suggest..."

Well the witches prompt works, you could stretch the after life because of the vampires. It's set at the start of the school year so it could be favourite season of Autumn. Could be double life because Hope is hiding the supernatural world from her human friend so you could try double life. Set in Juno Alaska so is there a sister city?

Theresa wrote: "Dang! I had almost finished my post - and it was long -- and it just disappeared! Clearly I clicked on something I shouldn't have. I'll have to try again. I was feeling fabulous due to the haircut ..."

So glad you enjoyed Ilona Andrews. They are a favourite author/writing duo that I've read nearly everything they've wrote. The Hidden Legacy series is the most romance focused of their series.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, readers! Happy Thursday! Thursdays are the highlight of my week, I'm so glad we all found each other and can happily chat about our books.

It's stil..."

I too am happy to have found other readers. You all keep my tbr going up despite my constant reading.

Doni wrote: "Uugh! Help me out here, guys. One of the prompts for my local library's reading challenge is romance with single parent. I started reading Soulmate Equation and it was so god-awful that I couldn't ..."

Maybe Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

Happy check-in! It's melting here and there is/are scary storm(s) going around but in the city it's sunny and slushy. Speaking of I should probably go and charge things just in case.
I've been watching the Olympics for sure, the winter sports are my favourite. The time to protest was when deciding to send athlete or not. Now that they are there I want to support them and the CBC. I did watch some of the figure skating last night but switched to Snowboard cross. I love all the X games sports plus hockey and curling. The Canadian woman's hockey team has been so exciting to watch play, definitely more exciting than any NHL game right now.

Finished Reading:

Oddball ⭐⭐⭐ (2015 author <30)
This was definitely happier and funnier than her last one that was about anxiety and depression. Go figure. However her first collection is still the bar and this didn't quite meet it for me. I couldn't quite tell what some of the comics meant to get the joke.

All My Friends Are Still Dead ⭐⭐
A couple of funny ideas and a couple that I think are inappropriate/rude.

Mansfield Park ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 more than 100 years old)
I finally did it. I tried to read this before and got 9 chapters in and that was it pre-pandemic. Now I've got Northanger Abbey and Sanditon left. Fanny isn't the greatest mc but I did enjoy some of the things Austen had to say.

The Bounty ⭐⭐ (2015 bad reviews)
So I loved this series until Lee Goldburg left. Then she co-wrote with her kid? husband? and it was wrong. Now this one she co-wrote with some new person and it's a completely different style of writing. The first five books FBI agent and con man work together to catch one criminal. They spend half the book collecting/introducing quirky characters for a big con without explaining it to us. Then the second half of the book they go through with the con to catch the criminal. Book 6 they tried and failed to make it work without Lee Goldburg. This new one has no con it's more like a Dan Brown book where there's a secret society and a treasure hunt. The characters were different too and sometimes it seemed like nobody referenced the previous books.

Bringing Down the Duke ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 victorian times)
Queen Victoria is a character in a couple of scenes so definitely counts. The suffragette movement added in was pretty good.

The Flame ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 previous prompt poetry collection)
All of Cohen's poems were picked out for this before he died but it was finished after his passing. Apparently he wrote constantly on whatever was available. Because he would have music in mind the poems seems to have a rhythm which I enjoyed even if the poem didn't make sense to me. There were also a lot of his drawings included but they were mostly self potraits. (so many)

Cursed Moon ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Deadly Spells ⭐⭐⭐ (2015 published 2015)
The library bought the next to in this series and I kinda binged them quick. Unfortunately I can only request they purchase book 4 as an audiobook. I like this series for the world building and the not typical mc who is an addict and cop. Although there are some problematic things.

PS 2022 17/50
PS 2015 14/50
Goodreads 45/200

Currently Reading:
Sweep of the Heart
Ace of Spades
Get a Life, Chloe Brown I'm not sure if this is for me. I'm on the prologue and struggling to like the mc.

QOTW:
I read a few anthologies every year. I like to use them to try new authors. If I already like an author I will read short stories or collections by them. I have another Buffy anthology ready to go from the library so I'll be reading that soon.
No favourite jump out at me right now but I do agree with others who loved Freddrick Bachman's collection.

Theresa wrote: "It's getting late here in NYC and I've had yet another intense work day glued to my computer revising legal documents and sending emails. Exhausting, let me tell you. However, I need to do an updat..."

Currently Harvard has men's and women's hockey teams. I did double check before posting even though I was pretty confident. I watch a lot of hockey and there seems to be more notable players from the women's team.

The Canadian government put a vaccination mandate in place for truckers and they organized a protest at our capitol city of Ottawa, Ontario. Before the protest, the US put in an order that to enter your country you must be vaccinated making the original protest futile. Nationwide people still drove to Ottawa last Saturday to protest and some are still there. Other provinces have had protests at the legislative buildings. They have blocked the highway to the US in Alberta. Saskatchewan used the protest as an excuse to declare covid over, despite having the highest hospital rates ever, and reaching 1000 deaths.
Mostly so many other people, including the racists, joined in. The opposition party used their leaders interaction with the protestors, and it's subsequent backlash, as an excuse to punt the leader for losing to Trudeau.

Happy check-in! This week has been maddening due to protestors. On a happy note, last night the Canadian Men's Soccer/Football team broke a CONCACAF record with their 6th straight win in the final qualifiers. They are very close to qualifying for the world cup.

Finished Reading:

Cyclopedia Exotica ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 graphic novel)
This was surprisingly funny despite being a metaphor for racism.

Fearscape ⭐⭐ (2015 set in highschool)
This was disappointing. I decided to give a fave reviewer's books a try and this was the only one the library had. This isn't quite my genre and I got mad at the main character. There are 4 sequels but I'm going to pass on them.

The Poet X ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 popular author's first book)
This was fantastic. I could really relate to fighting with your parents about religion and going to church.

Paper Girls vols. 4-6 ⭐⭐⭐
I'm glad I revisited this series because I was impatient for Saga. (It's back 🥳) Some of the times they travel to were fun.

Hunt the Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 constellation on the cover)
This was a great start to a new series. The instalove made it lose a star but it has definite Firefly vibes.

PS 2022 15/50
PS 2015 10/50
Goodreads 37/200

Currently Reading:

Mansfield Park
The Bounty it's better than the last one but still not right without Lee Goldberg
Every Step She Takes Fave author and I'm possibly dnfing this. Thriller's where women are stalked/framed don't seem to be my thing


QOTW:
I don't have anything planned yet. I'm a mood reader so we'll see how it goes. I did request Chloe Brown but I doubt it will come in in time for the BOTM. I want to accomplish BIPOC romance prompt this month for sure.

Alex wrote: "I wish I could say, "happy Thursday!" like normal, but it is not a happy Thursday here as yesterday I received the terrible news that a dear friend of mine suddenly passed away due what they think ..."

I'm so sorry for your loss.

+1 on delayed notifications

Thanks to all those who have participated over the past month.

@Nadine don't be intimidated by Call Us What We Carry being long. I too am finding it difficult to read long books but I finished that poetry collection and wanted more. It was so good!

Happy check-in!

It's still winter so I've got a lot of reading done this week. Overall they were good books too.

Finished reading:

It Ends with Us ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 BookTok)
So all the BookTok lists seem to be made up of Colleen Hoover's books so I thought I would give one a try. I thought this would be a fluffy romance but it wasn't. It takes you on an emotional roller coaster for sure. Check for TWs.

Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 2 Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 3 ⭐⭐⭐
This series has definite Buffy vibes.

Endlessly ⭐⭐⭐ (2015 Set during Christmas)
I have an overall reading goal for the year of catching up/finishing series. This was a cute ya fantasy series with all the paranormals.

Edenbrooke ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 featuring a party)
This felt like a Jane Austen novel but the pacing was a bit faster.

To Have and to Hoax ⭐⭐⭐ (2022 twin city 2 London)
To Love and to Loathe ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 antonym in the title)
My sister recommended this series. I like the characters and will read the next one when it comes out. The first book lost my patience at the half way mark when the married couple couldn't talk to each other and solve their argument. The second in the series was much better. These are ridiculous like the Bridgerton series.

Slightly Married ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2015 classic romance)
Well to go from the previous regency romance series to this showed off Mary Balogh's writing ability. This definitely has better historical fiction value and seems more realistic.

A Night to Remember ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2022 set on a plain train or cruise ship)
This was heartbreaking and maddening. I read an updated version so things that couldn't be proven were removed plus there were extra pictures. It would have been 5 stars but it started to mention the public inquiries that took place afterward but never went through what happened. The book just ended abruptly for me. The list of names at the end is chilling.

PS 2022 14/50
PS 2015 7/50
Goodreads 30/200

Currently Reading:
Sweep of the Heart
The Poet X

QOTW:
Favourite genre is Fantasy, particularly urban fantasy. (It's my biggest shelf) I love sci-fi and rom coms too. I really like graphic novels but I have to have a physical copy.

cat herine wrote: "Ahhh, sorry fam but I just did not like this book. 🙈

Check point chapters 1-7

This was published last spring right in time for vacation and beach read season. Is reading a book about vacation whe..."

No need to apologize for not liking the book. I sped through this so I didn't dwell on Poppy's more obnoxious moments that going through these questions have highlighted.

Teri wrote: "Britany wrote: "Teri wrote: "Broadway musical soundtrack.."

Favorites? I love a good show tune."

Les Miz, Wicked, Camelot (nostalgia), Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Hamilton, Man of La Ma..."

Camelot has such good music but Les Miz isn't road trip music it's cleaning music. ;)

I'm realizing we're running out of January so here's the last of my questions.

Check point 31 -end

Were you surprised that Alex stood up for himself when it comes to Poppy and broke things off?

Were you underwhelmed with what happened in Croatia that caused Poppy and Alex to avoid each other for two years?

Have you travelled to any of the places in the various chapters?

Were you happy to see the mc's make positive healthy change individually to make a relationship work?

Overall what was your opinion of this book?

Check point 25 - 30
This may be repetitive but due to Poppy's cancelled Sweden trip what was your best/worst staycation?

Swapna's email to Poppy about not apologizing for being sick stood out to me. Anyone else? Is it a problem that women do this because we're used to expectations of perfection or is it a habit of thinking about others and our impact on them?

At this point what are/were you thinking happened to cause Poppy and Alex to stop speaking?

Now that Poppy has realized that she's been stringing Alex along over the years, will she step up, run away or keep things status quo?

Check point 18 - 24

So the current timeline in Palm Springs is clearly a disastrous vacation. What is your most memorable vacation story either worst or best?
When I was a kid we had a multi family camping trip... Hottest place in Canada for that weekend, no air conditioning, mosquitos, kids and pets having temper tantrums.

So was Henry able to make you think differently about airports with Poppy's confession about why she loves to travel?
No, airports are in between point a and point b to me.

Looking at the January Challenge I finished thread, I liked Jessica's point about the book not focusing on the people Poppy meets on vacation. Has this book shown enough interaction with fellow travellers or does this book have a misleading title?
I finished this book really fast and then skimmed through it to come up with questions and that's when I realized there were other people Poppy met on vacation but I had completely forgotten them. So to me this fits the misleading prompt if you focus on the North American title.