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

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

Ellie wrote: "I got the job I interviewed for last week. I have one more week of freedom and then I have to go back into an office. After I've done the training it's three days in, two days remote, which is more..."

Congratulations!

Happy check-in!
I went and voted and am done with elections and the ads. We get multiple provincial elections, municipal elections, potential federal elections and American elections attack ads. I am now invested in the Michigan results because of certain tv channels. ;)
I also went and got the flu and covid shots. I had more of a reaction than usual so that just made me think there are really unpleasant germs expected for flu season.

Finished Reading:

Abbott ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Graphic novel set in 1970s Detroit, following Abbott an investigative reporter. You have racism and demons causing problems. This has gorgeous artwork. I'm looking forward to the others in this series.

Blue Horses: Poems ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Taylor Swift: A Baby's First Biography ⭐⭐⭐
This caught my eye in Costco.

QOTW:
Re-reads.

Congratulations Cornerofmadness!! One year cancer free is a huge milestone.

I loved Brooklyn the movie and read the book after. The book was still great.

Happy check-in! I celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend. This meant having my grandma down to visit.
It is voting season here too. Elections can be called at anytime of year there is no set date. Although it is an unwritten rule that you do not call an election in the winter. No one wants to do canvassing in the winter!
I’ve been too busy and tired this past week to read so I have nothing to report on that front.

QOTW:
I cannot pinpoint one book that changed my life but the overall Popsugar challenges have. I read a lot more and I read more variety in genre because of this challenge.

Happy check-in! It has been shorts weather here except for one super windy day but nothing compared to down south. I really hope all those in the paths of these hurricanes and tornados is doing okay. I have family with a place outside of Sarasota. They were safe in Canada and their place seems fine on the outside so far.

I too have had all the holds come in at the library. I got through lots this week but there's still a lot left to read. :)

Finished Reading:

The Salt Grows Heavy ⭐⭐
I'm not sure what happened. It was a Little Mermaid retelling apparently, but I didn't see that other than the main character is a mermaid. This counts as body horror so this was a bad book for me to pick.

A Thief Among the Trees ⭐⭐⭐
It's always nice to see characters drawn after you've read about them. This is a An Ember in the Ashes prequel.

The Yakuza's Bias, Volume 1 The Yakuza's Bias 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mangas following a second in command Yakuza who become a Kpop otaku. Easy way to accomplish the Kpop prompt for anyone still looking for a book.

What Does It Feel Like? ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sophie Kinsella wrote a short book fictionalizing her life and recent battle with brain cancer. It was sad but still had her usual humour.

Lore Olympus: Volume Seven ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
These can not be published fast enough for me.

Dinosaur Sanctuary Vol. 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
These also aren't translated fast enough for me.

Adulthood Is a Gift! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Her comics on millenials in this vs. her first collection are interesting. She's now 30 and thinks she's old but knows she's not.

Buried Deep and Other Stories ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Short story collection by a fave author. The stories I loved were 5 stars and the others were meh.

PS 45/50
ATY 52/52 Summer 36/36
DBC 30/36
Goodreads 240/250

QOTW:
Mysteries aren't my usual reads but I do try and figure things out in any book.

Laura Z wrote: "Happy Thursday!

I recently won a Goodreads Giveaway, and it just arrived in this morning’s mail: Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven. The blurb: “The Invisible Life of Addie La Ru..."

Ooh that's added to the tbr. Thanks!

Happy check-in! Beautiful day here so I got to spray painting old rusted furniture. It did not go well lol. The furniture looks better because it's all the same white colour now.

Finished Reading:

The Moth Keeper ⭐⭐⭐
This was a much more interesting story than their last book I read. Although I didn't enjoy the artwork as much. It was also rather depressing for a middle grade.

An Ember in the Ashes ⭐⭐⭐
This felt really similar to Gideon the Ninth without the space travel.

When We Were Alone ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Read this on National Truth and Reconciliation Day. I really liked the artwork.

Two Can Play ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ali Hazelwood has a new book with Spotify, but my library got an audiobook copy. It seems it's only audio so far. This works for the videogame prompt fyi.

Blood Hunt ⭐⭐⭐
The last book of the series. It didn't end like it was intended to be a done series but the author hasn't seemed to publish anything recently.

PS 45/50
ATY 52/52
ATY Summer 36/36
Diverse Baseline 29/36
Goodreads 231/250

QOTW:
I like Jackie's answer about meeting characters to ask them what was wrong with them. Hagar from The Stone Angelcomes to mind.

So sorry about your fur baby Lynn. As hard as it is to let them go it is truly better to not have them suffer.

Harry Potter is a banned book.

I started The Night Tiger earlier this week and I’m enjoying it. I’m not far in so I have no idea where things are going yet.


There’s ups and downs with the aty voting and prompt ideas for me. That’s why I participated in the challenges where there was a raffle prize to pick a prompt, unfortunately no luck there. lol

Happy check-in! I read 18 books for the aty readathon which was crazy. I've slowed down on the reading since it finished. I also finished the ATY challenge.

Finished Reading:

Marriage & Masti ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The final rom com Shakespeare retelling of Twelfth Night. This was my favourite of the three.

Black Beauty ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book actually helped create positive social change for workers and horses.

Long Way Down ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reread. It's still awesome.

Clue: Candlestick ⭐
My second one star read of the year. It was art deco in style but the author couldn't manage Peacock Blue and Plum Purple. I wasn't expecting a great plot but this was so painfully random. It also turned into a kids activity book. Stick with the board game.

The Chemist ⭐⭐⭐ (ATY The blank title)
Well this felt like a cozy fantasy to me but apparently that's not the correct definition for the genre. 🤣 Anyway the idea for this would make a great thriller but then it was written by Stephenie Meyer so insert Bella and Edward but gender reversal. I giggled through the audio book a bunch.

Giant Days, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Follows three college roomates in England.

Remembrance ⭐⭐⭐
A short story following three generations and their connection to the war. The writing was nice but the connections were a hard sell for me.

I Hope This Doesn't Find You ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ya rom-com following a competitive straight A student who has her venting emails sent to everyone particularly her rival. Great surprise that I finished in one sitting when I really should have slept.

The Most Boring Book Ever ⭐⭐⭐
The title made me read this picture book.

PS 45/50
ATY 52/52
ATY Summer 36/36
DBC 28/36
Goodreads 226/250

QOTW:
Obsessed. I have made pumpkin spice lattes at home with pumpkin puree and they tasted great. They were a lot of work too, so I'm good sticking with Starbucks that have no pumpkin in them. I think Starbucks started selling them Sept. 1 here, I've been a few times already. The cheerios were a let down, but coffee crisp chocolate bars are good. I do think the pumpkin spice turkey roll is wrong though.

We have Freedom To Read Week in February in Canada. I made a point to read 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga. The CBC had an article about FTRW and they mentioned this book being taken off school bookshelves in Ontario, then being reinstated. Anyway I have a shelf for banned books and read them throughout the year.

Ontario made school libraries cull huge amounts of books with the intention to fund replacements that were more relevant but the funding hasn't fully happened even though the librarians followed the guidelines for book removal. On paper it seemed reasonable, no one is borrowing it, is so many years old, outdated information. The CBC had an article about that too around the same time that's where I got my info.

Happy check-in! I'm another participant of the aty readathon. I'm enjoying my reading but so far I'm not accomplishing my challenges. Oh well.

Finished Reading:

The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear ⭐⭐⭐
Earlier this year I read a list book children's classics and this was on it. I didn't have the patience to find the correct edition that I read on libby. Why can't Libby give you ISBNs in the book details?

Ascender, Vol. 1: The Haunted Galaxy ⭐⭐⭐
I really disliked how the Descender series ended but I'm glad I picked this spinoff up to try after waiting a bit.

The Crossover Graphic Novel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The poetry loses a bit of the punch when it's split up to go with images.

I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm a Halsey fan and just found out she wrote a poetry collection.

Booked Graphic Novel ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I enjoy this story as a novel in verse more than as a graphic novel.

Assassin's Creed Dynasty, Volume 1 ⭐⭐
The artwork was really good but this ended with 20 pages of history notes that I just couldn't be bothered to read.

Apprentice to the Villain ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shocking that this book two left things unfinished for a third book.
This was a better written book than the first because it's more removed from the author's TikToks but it lost a little of the fun because of it.

The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Devil Wears Scrubs ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I grabbed this for a quick audio book and it was a pleasant surprise. It follows Jane on her first few shifts as a doctor.

PS 45/50
ATY 51/52
ATY Summer 36/36
DBC 28/36
Goodreads 217/250

QOTW:
I don't really follow any awards consistently other than the Hugo's and Goodreads choice.

Happy check-in! I'm actually posting on a Thursday.
I didn't read much this week, but hopefully the ATY read-a-thon will get me back into reading. Anyone else happy it's pumpkin spice latte season again? Yes, I'm a part of the cult. 😉

Finished Reading:

After the Dragons ⭐⭐⭐ (ATY sound related)
A novella set in Beijing where drought and pollution are rampant and so are dragons. I wanted a plot instead of slice of life, but the dragons were still awesome.

Powerful ⭐⭐
A novella following a side character from Powerless during the book. Insta love was the biggest problem.

PS 45/50
ATY 51/52
ATY Summer 36/36
DBC 28/36
Goodreads 207/250

QOTW:
Elizabeth Acevedo

Late check-in.

Finished Reading:

Daughter of No Worlds ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A nice start to a new fantasy series. Although I like the authors more popular vampire series better.

Deceptions ⭐⭐
The adult love triangle is obnoxious and it took the focus instead of a plot.

A Sorceress Comes to Call ⭐⭐ (ATY sound related)
This was pulling teeth to finish for me. The humour is spot on but two weeks happen in a sentence and then an hour takes chapters. It also ended so simply and too quick for how much dithering the characters took to get rid of the sorceress. This was disappointing like A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking.

PS 45/50
ATY 51/52
ATY Summer 36/36
DBC 28/36
Goodreads 204/250

QOTW:
The most recent movies I've seen were based on tv and movies.

Happy check-in!

Finished Reading:

Omens Visions ⭐⭐⭐
I'm finally getting around to this five book series. The main character finds out she's adopted and her birth parents are convicted serial killers. She starts investigating and learns of her magical heritage.

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS musical)
Thanks to the person who used Percy Jackson for this prompt a week or so ago.

Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS book seller)
A good writer and artist partnership.

Check & Mate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The books I was reading were heavy so I needed a light reread.

Fangirl, Vol. 4: The Manga ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The final installment for Fangirl. It's still an enjoyable story.

Wenjack ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A tiny book caught my eye at the library. Inspired by Chanie Wenjack a boy who escaped a residential school and froze to death trying to get home. His death in the 60s caused the first inquiry into residential schools.

PS 45/50
Aty 50/52
Aty Summer 36/36
DBC 28/36
Goodreads 201/250

Happy check-in!

Finished Reading:

Clockwork Boys The Wonder Engine ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS Nanowrimo)
This is one story split into two books, the first was written during nanowrimo. Fantastic Kingfisher set in the same world as Paladin’s Grace.

Sanctuary ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS self published)
They published this weekly online except for the epilogue. It was great to get to read it all in one go.

Spy x Family, Vol. 12 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hark! A Vagrant ⭐⭐⭐

Strange Planet ⭐⭐⭐

Mooncakes ⭐⭐⭐
It was cute, but a little boring. It read more middle grade but I think all the characters were adults.

PS 43/50
ATY 50/52
ATY Summer 35/36
DBC 28/36
Goodreads 194/250

QOTW:
Ilona Andrews, Ali Hazelwood, and Christina Lauren.

Happy check-in! It's hot and smoky here again with humidity. I'm still expecting the Olympics to be on tv. I went and saw Twisters and The Fall Guy in theatres and loved them both.

To get out of reading slumps I let myself dnf things and pick a fave to reread.

Finished Reading:

A Promise of Peridot ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS pirates)
This is a weak pick for the pirates prompt but I want to be done PS. Anyway this is a fun romantasy series and now I have to wait until October for the final.

Mr. Villain's Day Off 04 ⭐⭐⭐
Cuteness manga.

Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Very interesting that Robin's mom brought them to Alabama from South Korea.

The Door of No Return ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (ATY historical fiction)
YA poetry. The start to a family saga in Ghana. Kwame Alexander always knocks it out of the park for me.

PS 41/50
ATY 50/52
ATY Summer 34/36
Diverse Baseline 28/36
Goodreads 186/250

QOTW:
Lately I'm only buying things I've read before.

My favourite author posted that they had been picked for this list at Time. The 50 best romance books to read right now.

https://time.com/collection/best-roma...

I've read 12.