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

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

Shannon wrote: "Hi all! I won't be checking in next week because my best friend and I leave for our week-long North Carolina trip tomorrow! I'm excited but also overwhelmed -- I haven't even started packing and th..."

I hope you have a blast on your trip. I too want to hear about the Wizard of Oz theme park when you get back.

Doni wrote: "Today's my surgery day. Wish me luck!

Finished: The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help This one was pretty great! I listened to the songs mention..."

I wish you luck and a speedy recovery!

Isabel María wrote: "Where does this book fit? Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. I already read a book with something broken on the cover and with a heart on the cover :( I don’..."

It's been awhile since I read this so I can't remember the character names right now.
A Book about forgetting: The mc spends her time trying to forget that she loves him.
Dream job: Doctor or a writer?
Subject your passionate about: Reading
Fresh start: The two mcs get to know each other as adults.
The tbr prompts may work too.

@Nadine "American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett - this was one of the books I had on my "must read in 2021" list, and it was fantastic!!"

That's awesome to hear. I read my first RJB this year, Foundryside and I really enjoyed it. A magic system inspired by computer coding and great characters.

Happy Friday! New month and reading is going so much better.

Finished Reading:

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This series is addictive even though the main character is a bit of a Bella.

Firefly: The Unification War Vol. 1 Firefly: The Unification War Vol. 2 Firefly: The Unification War Vol. 3 All ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A great story told over the three volumes. Definitely felt like the characters in the show/movie because the humour was spot on. Firefly always defies my dislike of westerns.

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2017 Steampunk)
Well it's dark from panel one. The artwork is amazing despite the bloodshed.

Siberian Haiku ⭐⭐
This book has jumped off the shelf every time I've been at library because of the title. Unfortunately, the artistic choices like the font took away from the memoir. When you're reading a book about families being separated and sent to Siberia because of the world war you shouldn't be focusing on the font and jump between drawings and photographs. Plus the instructions for making an origami crane should be at the end of the book.

Nineteen Eighty-Four ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2017 on tbr too long)
A classic for a reason. I probably would have dnfed it early on if it hadn't been a BOTM for me due to it being so depressing. It definitely holds up because so many things in the book are happening with misinformation on social media and elsewhere.

Grave War ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2021 gift tbr)
Mommy it's over. 😥 10 years for this series to end and it ended well.

Almost Just Friends ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Needed a book with 3 or more POVs for a challenge and this was sitting there. This series is just nice but nothing special in the romance genre.

Finally progress.
PS 2021 41/50
PS 2017 41/52
Goodreads 178/200

Currently Reading:
The ​Crown of Gilded Bones
Cemetery Boys BOTM

QOTW:
I can't think of any books/authors other than some 'classics' that I was forced to read for school. Although recently I read A Curse So Dark and Lonely and loved this retelling. I should have stopped there but I read the next two sequels and really question the author for creating such terrible characters and ruining the ones I liked.

Yeah I too am struggling with the longest tbr. Worse yet, I'm doing 2017's list which has a 800 plus page prompt too. I'm just going to slot long books into these prompts when I'm ready to be done the challenges, which will be soon. Between the two I've got 21 books to go.

Happy check-in. Another bittersweet week with funerals and seeing family. Good books have helped.


Finished Reading:

The Kinder Poison ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ya fantasy highly recommended by a friend. The main character's magical powers let her speak to animals. She tries to sneak into the palace for the ceremony to start the selection of the next king/queen. Unfortunately she is chosen to help a potential king through his ordeal across the desert. I did not see the ending coming which was great and I definitely have to read the next one.

PS 2021 40/50
PS 2017 39/52
Goodreads 169/200

Currently Reading:
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
1984
Gods & Monsters

QOTW:
I have a clear memory of the first book I read out loud to my parents. It was about a black and white cat, it did have pictures so I can see the book but I cannot remember the title. :( Anyway I just remember being so proud of myself. This was probably grade one because I needed kindergarten and a bit to learn how to sit still long enough to read a book. ;)

Blake Crouch Dark Matter too. I'm sure there's a cover option that's black and white. I can't remember the mc's job right now. His wife is an artist.

It fits the do-over prompt the best.

Yeah for check in. This has been a better reading week and maybe I'm out of my slump.

Finished Reading:

John Keats: Poetry ⭐⭐⭐
Very pretty descriptions but I had no clue what was going on. Fortunately I own this book so I can reread in the future.

Where the Sidewalk Ends ⭐⭐⭐⭐
So most of these poems were good and funny. A few stood out as being outdated but it was interesting to see poems touching on vaccination, veganism, and flat earthers when these were created in the 70s or earlier. I also discovered that I knew some of the poems in the collection so that was neat.

Bubble ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a huge surprise. This was mentioned in a article on goodreads as a great graphic novel so I gave it a shot not expecting much. I didn't realize it was sci-fi or that it would be so funny. It's a satire on the 'gig economy'.

PS 2021 40/50
PS 2017 39/52
Goodreads 168/200

Currently Reading:

1984
She Who Became the Sun half done but the library took it back so I'll have to wait for it to come back
Gods & Monsters
The Kinder Poison

QOTW:
Blood and Chocolate sprang to mind. I love this book and it's an excellent stand alone so I know a sequel would ruin things, but I still want more in the world Klause created.
Where as A Curse So Dark and Lonely was a great retelling of Beauty and the Beast but the two sequels have killed my appreciation for the first book. The sequels feature chapters by an awful character that made me dislike my favourite character for falling in love with them.

Happy Birthday Theresa! 🥳

Thanks guys I’ll try one out for her. If it’s crude or not her thing I’ll hear about it! 😁 Books about horses usually are better received.

So I've added Proof to my tbr.

I was wondering if his books have a lot of swearing. I pick out audiobooks for my grandmother, she's blind, and she loves mysteries but swearing not so much. The horses and horse racing aspects are a huge plus so I will probably get one for her to try, if I can find it in the library.

Britany wrote: "Erica wrote: "Happy check in!
Bittersweet week here with funerals and seeing family at them."

Sorry to hear Erica. Hugs and thoughts your way for peace!"

Thanks.

Happy check in!
Bittersweet week here with funerals and seeing family at them. I didn't read much this week as a result.

Finished:

Capture the Crown ⭐⭐⭐
Middle of the road fantasy. This is a spinoff series.

PS 2020 40/50
PS 2017 39/52
Goodreads 165/200

Currently Reading:

1984
John Keats: Poetry
She Who Became the Sun
The Kinder Poison

QOTW:
I can't think of any. I do love the mayor in Buffy.

Happy Sunday.
I learned this week that my dislike of mulch for landscaping has been misplaced. River rocks are not fun to move. ;) Mulch does not leave you with stiff muscles even if it's ugly.

Finished Reading:

A Touch of Darkness ⭐⭐⭐
So my only option to borrow this from the library was an audiobook but I survived. This was a good take on Greek mythology focusing on the Persephone and Hades storyline. The urban fantasy setting was a good choice.

After the Rain ⭐⭐
Nnedi Okorafor graphic novel = yeah. Magical realism = no.

The Velveteen Rabbit & Other Stories ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A classic that I had never read until now. It's been on the tbr since that episode of Friends.

Anya's Ghost ⭐⭐
A highly rated fantasy graphic novel... I'm in. Unfortunately this was boring which is usually what garners a 2 star rating from me. If something is bad/maddening/unlikable than it will probably get a 1 star.

PS 2021 40/50
PS 2017 39/52
Goodreads 165/200

Currently Reading:
She Who Became the Sun
The Kinder Poison
1984 only a couple pages in though

QOTW:
The closest character I can think of would be Merit from the Chicagoland vampire series by Chloe Neill. However, Merit is a huge baseball fan and baseball is one of the few sports I just cannot stand even though I totally get sports fandom.

I've found that Leigh Bardugo has improved as an author with every book. Thus Shadow and Bone is not the best. I guess you could watch the netflix season one for what happens in the original grisha trilogy, minus any six of crow characters because you need to know what happened before reading the Nikolai duology which I loved.

Title: Master Class
Author: Christina Dalcher
Would you recommend this book?
Not sure. I loved her other book Vox and I spent most of this book comparing them and getting confused because they seemed similar. It ended well and was based on history in the states I was unaware of.

Happy check-in! I too am hooked on Olympics. Canadian women are kicking butt! They account for all of our medals.

Finished reading:

Ring Shout ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2021 bestie would like)
This was great alternate history with strong characters. Next please.

The Tea Dragon Tapestry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
More cuteness overload.

Polaris Rising ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reread this because I just couldn't be motivated to read anything new that was available.

Hex on the Beach ⭐⭐⭐ (2017 set in a hotel)
Short story collection featuring my favourite author, but not my favourite series. Found a new series to try but the library has no copies. :(

PS 2021 40/50
PS 2017 39/52
Goodreads 160/200

Currently Reading:

She Who Became the Sun half done and it's holding up to the hype
A Touch of Darkness

QOTW:
I can't think of a time where this happened.

Happy late check in! We've got a break in the drought and had a lovely storm that took out power everywhere it went. Awesome people working in the dark and rain to fix the power. Hmm this rain might mean I have to actually mow the lawn this week. 😕
I've never been in a irl book club so I don't really know whether I'd feel like you Lynn.

Finished Reading:

Lore ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm dying waiting for book two in a series and grabbed this to distract myself. This was a great ya Greek mythology retelling set in New York City. Twelve gods tried to over throw Zeus and failed, their punishment is to become human and powerless for seven days every seven years. During these seven days if they are killed their power transfers to the killer, turning them into a new god. Fast forward hundreds of years to Lore who was raised to protect the god she descends from and potentially take someone else's power. She has left this life behind and comes home to find a nearly dead original god who pulls her back in. The characters are clear and the found family is lovely.

The Guild, Volume 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2021 online blogger)
Surprisingly, this relates to the QOTW quite well. The group of gamers form a guild with people who have different priorities when they get together.

And Then There Were None ⭐⭐⭐ (2017 recommended by a librarian)
I've finally read something by Agatha Christie. From the start my suspect turned out to be correct but I waffled during the course of the book.

PS 2021 39/50
PS 2017 8/52
Goodreads 156/200

Currently Reading:
Ironskin

QOTW:
In December I started a list of books to read this year. I start with things I'm desperate for that are being published in the upcoming year. I add books that have been sitting and staring at me. Things I've started and not finished. A few classics. I also try to slate things into the challenge but I don't have 50 books planned. I think I stopped trying so hard in June and now whatever I read first to fill a prompt is the entry. If I'm struggling I will move things around if possible. This list still has close to 70 books on it, but I have yet to complete one of these lists.
I've read a few 'closed circuit' mysteries this year which is a genre that I had never heard of before.