Sheri’s Comments (group member since Jul 25, 2016)

Sheri’s comments from the EPBOT Readers group.

I personally like Artemis quit a bit, although maybe not AS much as The Martian. I happened to have it on hold for a while already, so mine just came up in a timely fashion.

Hi everyone,

Been an uneventful week this week, mostly just a lot of rain. Going to check out the Jim Henson puppet exhibit at a museum this weekend, and went to the Detroit Institute of Art last weekend. Nice to be able to do things, even if I'm still not very comfortable in crowds.

Book Club

Looks like Project Hail Mary won the poll by several votes. Just so happens my hold just came up, so I should be able to get to it shortly.

I'm going to change the format to what we discussed a couple weeks ago, I have the pre-reading thread up now. Once I finish up, I'll make a finished reading thread, with some overall questions to spark discussion, rather than the multiple posts for different sections. Feel free to give your pre-reading thoughts! For those who read it already, I'll try to get the finished reading post up soon.

This week I finished:

Act Your Age, Eve Brown - this was a fun romance, I enjoyed the Brown sisters. I'll have to check out her other books. I am not a huge romance person, but they're nice brain breaks to go in between heavy reads. Counted it for Read Harder fat-positive romance, and Book nerds book where you'd like to be friends with the main character.

Bite Me If You Can - another fluff read because I had a migraine, couldn't concentrate on my other book.

Currently reading:

Queen of the Conquered - taking me a while to get through this. It's not BAD per se, it's just kind of slow and it doesn't make me look forward to reading. Reminds me a bit of The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Frankly I think I just don't have patience for political maneuvering in books, whether they are fantasy or sci fi, or how diverse the cast is or what the power dynamics are. I generally want either relationships to explore, or action. Reading about people murdering each other for power just....isn't my thing. Looking at you too, Game of Thrones. It'll be my book that starts with Q, X, or Z for popsugar.

Drawing a blank for a question of the week this week. If anyone has something, feel free to ask! if anyone has ideas, feel free to message me and I'll use them in the future. I'm at the tail end of my work day, if I think of something later I can come back and add it.

This is the pre-reading thread for Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Are you excited to read it? Dreading it?

No spoilers here!

Hi everyone,

I'm really sorry, I somehow forgot to do a post last week! So I'm posting a double one for both.

Book club

I set a poll up for the next book selection: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

In a week or so I'll announce the winner, so don't forget to vote!

The last two weeks I finished:

The Library of the Dead - this was interesting. i liked it overall. I wanted a little more world building. There was a feeling that this was our world, Edinburg existed for example. But it mentioned a catastrophe, no plumbing, national health care being disbanded, but cell phones and the internet existing, but cell phones charged with kinetic chargers. Was hard to place if it was future, or an alternate present. And there was a catastrophe mentioned, but never really described or explained. Also magic was considered a reasonable profession, and ghost talkers were well known, wasn't clear if that was the way things always were, or if it was related to whatever catastrophe happened.

Fugitive Telemetry- always here for murderbot, this was a fun one in the series.

Stealing from Wizards: Volume 2: Burglary - I loved the first enough to go ahead and preorder the second and tore through it too. Downside is it'll probably be at least a year before the third comes out. boo!
I think it holds up really well as a second book.

1Q84- FINALLY I finished this! admittedly i wasn't trying super hard before, just reading a few pages here or there and putting it down for weeks. Got tired of it hanging over my head, so just pushed through and got it done. It's my longest book on my TBR for popsugar, plus door stopper for book nerds, book I was intimidated by for read harder, author with a career of over 21 years for around the year. I didn't particularly like it, but at least i read it.

Currently reading:

Act Your Age, Eve Brown - need a brain break after the last, so this hold came in at a good time.

QOTW:

Borrowing from popsugar this week, How do you feel about in-between additions to series? Short stories or novellas that take place in between the main books of the series.

I personally don't mind that they exist, but I like them to either be a) not important to the overall series plot so it's ok if I miss them, or b) be easily accessible. It annoys me when they are in short story collections, or cost as much as a full length book as a stand alone, or are only available in some special publication etc. My preferred option is that they are stand alone and available from the library, like the rest of the series, or else a very cheap kindle version (like a dollar or two, not 5+), or free on a site like Tor.com. I don't want important plot to be inaccessible, and feel confused that I am missing something when I read later books.

Rebecca, sorry if I gave a mistaken impression of Smiling Bears! It's much more a memoir of her experience with bears and her feelings of them having distinct personalities and the abilities to learn more so than being a research scientist actually running tests to prove it. I just love bears, and Detroit Zoo is my home zoo. So I remember Barle distinctly and was really sad when she passed a few years ago. I don't specifically remember the name Magsie, but i'm certain i watched her a lot, the zoo doesn't always put names on the various exhibits. So I loved it just from a "hearing stories about bears" perspective

Hi all!

Realized last week I marked week 24 as week 25, whoops!

Hope everyone's doing well. being vaccinated means actually seeing friends, so i have to say overall my mental state is improving, even though things are obviously still precarious, because at least I have social contact! I'm an introvert, but I still need SOME contact. I do admit my tolerance has gone way down though. A couple hours is plenty!

This week I finished:

Haha - not a huge fan, at least it's just one volume

Once & Future, Vol. 3: The Parliament of Magpies - not a huge fan of Arthurian mythos, but it's interesting enough I keep going. Interesting takes on it, although I'm sure I'm missing subtext only having a vague idea of the characters.

Faithless II - i continue to be on the fence with this series. very weird, but intriguing enough i keep going.

Single White Vampire - re-read

Stealing from Wizards Volume 1: Pickpocketing - After Jen's post on this, i saw it was pretty cheap on Kindle so went ahead and picked it up. I really loved it! Thought it had charming world building, was a lot of fun. Used it for book nerds book related to air, since the main character was able to run fast by calling wind to catch him.

Currently reading:

1Q84- managed another 100 pages or so of this. Such a trial, trying to just push through haha. I don't want to find another longest book for popsugar

The Library of the Dead - came up on a library hold so trying to knock it out quickly. Like it so far, not super far yet.

I need to get logged on for my evening workout class soon, I am having trouble coming up with a question. I'll try to circle back later with one! If not, if anyone else has a question they want to ask, feel free!

Haha, I picked up Stealing from Wizards right after that post. I'm almost done and it's really fun. I think it was only 3 bucks or so, on kindle at least.

Thanks Jennifer! I used Black Sun for my oxymoron prompt too. I think it's valid, a sun is a star that emits light, black is generally the absence of light, so I think it works. I really loved that book, hope you end up liking it!

Hi all!

Had a calmer week this week. No crisis, no massive gatherings etc. Temp also dropped a bit to nice 70s-low 80's, rather than pushing 90 or above.

This week I finished:

Tall, Dark & Hungry- fluffy read for a brain break


The Traitor Baru Cormorant - finally finished this. I ended up not loving it in the end, although I fully say it's a me thing, not a book thing. I think it was well written, i just got bogged down in all the politics and maneuvering, and I didn't like the ending. I don't think I'll be continuing the series. It kinda reminds me of Game of Thrones,and one of the reasons I didn't like GoT was way too much political maneuvering. Counted for popsugar something broken on the cover, and book nerds book with a brain.

Dryad, Vol. 2- getting caught up on some comics. This one's alright, not as good as Rat Queens but not bad.

The Last Witch: Fear & Fire - this is a fun series, nice art and a cute plot. Looking forward to continuing.

With the Fire on High - I liked this quite a bit, nice easy read. I read it for popsugar book set in a restaurant but i dont think it really fits. there were a few short scenes in an actual restaurant, but not enough that i think it qualifies as being SET in a restaurant. But I read it in good faith, it was on the listopia for the prompt. Counting it for now, but i'll circle back later if I feel ambitious. Also counted for book nerds last name I wasn't sure how to pronounce (someone in the group gave me pronunciation, and I could have looked it up but I figure that applies to basically any name. I was going by "i couldn't look on it and immediately know"), and Reading WOmen YA book by a Latine author.

Mirka Andolfo's Mercy: The Fair Lady, the Frost, and the Fiend & Mirka Andolfo's Mercy, Volume 2: The Mine, the Memories and the Mortality - not sure why this is two vol since it's only 6 issues and one plot arc. Money probably. But anyhow, I really loved this. Great art, very creepy, interesting story. Looks like there's a sequel coming out later this year, looking forward to it.



QOTW:

I'll spin off from last weeks, do you track or organize your reading in other ways than good reads?

I keep a series of spreadsheets. I have one for total reading that i use to keep track of some things goodreads doesn't really have data for, like diversity of the authors I read, format (audio book, digital, paperback etc) and whether I own it or borrowed. I'm sure i could tag things in good reads but there's not really a way to organize the shelves, and I already have a ton with all the various series and genres. I also have a spreadsheet for each challenge to keep track of what i'm using for each prompt, and notes as to how it fits. Sometimes it's obvious, other times it's not and I'm forgetful.

Hi all, here's the post for picking the next book club book.

Same rules as usual:

1) Please don't just list books you're planning to read. Give a sentence or two on why you think we should read a book as a book club.

2) If you made a suggestion before, please re-submit it for this time to be included. I won't be going to past suggestion threads, this is a new round.

3) If someone already listed something you like/what you would suggest, you can "vote " for it by adding support. You can add your own reasoning why you think we should read it.

After that, we'll gather up the books that have the most support and put them into a proper poll for the final selection.

I'll be changing up the response format this time. I'll just have a pre reading thread, and a post-reading thread. Sounds like that'll be better for everyone!

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late post, another hectic week. One of my cats had some....issues. That involved much cleaning of messes and him being confined to the bathroom until we could get him to the vet/it stopped to contain the mess. Luckily the vet didn't see the signs of anything serious, was probably a mild bacteria build up in his guts. He's on some stuff to control the symptoms and seems much better now, able to be around the house again. Still was very stressful.

Book Club: So it seems the general consensus is that people DO want to keep doing book club, but that just having a pre-reading and a finished reading posts will be easier all around going forward. I'll probably get a suggestion thread going in the next week or so.

This week I finished:

The Descent of Monsters - this is my popsugar book picked randomly from my tbr (I set kindle to unread, closed eyes and mashed forward and back a few times, then poked screen). i liked it, continuation of a series. Really cool world, i'll get the fourth book soon hopefully.

Crossover, Vol. 1: Kids Love Chains - read some comics, finished this up. It was kind of interesting, not amazing.

Meant to Be Immortal- found this on a book sale, had a migraine all week too so wanted fluff.

Currently reading:

The Traitor Baru Cormorant - this started out really strong and I figured I'd be finished by now. But I got bogged down in the middle with the rebellions. too much logistics/politics, i have trouble following stuff like that. It's an interesting idea having an accountant as the protagonist instead of a warrior or adventurer or some such....but it also means most her plans and actions involve stuff like moving resources around. I'll still finish it, i just needed a break. Will be popsugar something broke on the cover.

Tall, Dark & Hungry- re-read because i'm not ready to dive back into Baru.

QOTW:

How do you all organize your goodreads? Do you have a lot of shelves, or do you like minimal ones? Do you not worry about it at all?

I have a ton of shelves, I tend to use them kind of like tags. I have basic genre ones like science fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance, etc. Then I have a shelf for series, plus ones for each year of each challenge I do. Plus one for my book clubs. I don't really need them a ton, but it's nice for stuff like long series to be able to go into the series shelf and just see where I left off.

I don't mind continuing the book club, it's just more that usually by the time it'd be next book selection time, at least SOME people have posted on the posts. I think only one person has posted thoughts, so I wasn't sure if something specific is going on (i was too slow getting posts up, people can't get the book) or if people lost interest, or just happens to be a busy time. I could also delay a month, start the selection of the next book closer to July instead of now.

Also I originally started breaking up the posts by chapter groups due to back when Stephanie ran Left Hand Of Darkness and she did it. It seemed like a popular format at the time. But if people would prefer just "pre reading thoughts" and "final thoughts", that's fine with me (and actually easier since I wouldn't need to go section by section to make sure questions line up) . I know if i don't get the book as quickly as others, and people have finished it can be difficult to remember what happened when and make sure you're posting spoilers.

Hi all, sorry I never got a post up last week. Was a long week, followed by a very full overwhelming weekend. Finally had the memorial for my grandma who passed back just before Christmas. Everyone was at least partially vaccinated, so it was safe enough, but I am NOT used to having 20+ people that i have to interact with at once anymore Even if they were all family. And as part of the events there was a dinner out at a local restaurant, on the patio at least. But man, that was an overwhelming return to eating out, kind of a disaster. Anyhow, was basically useless all Sunday recovering. Then there was a family bbq Monday, same people. Was good to see family and be able to hug and everything, ti's the whole reason I tried to get vaccinated as fast as I could. But still exhausting!

Tuesday was our wedding anniversary as well, ended up returning to the same restaurant since we figured if we lived through a massive disaster of eating out, eating with just the two of us in a basically empty restaurant was fine. Manager gave us free drinks as apology for the mess on Saturday (husband couldn't order the food he wanted, they were out), We said it wasn't necessary but he insisted. Then they gave us a free experimental cookie dessert due to anniversary, so that was nice. (we tipped really well)

This week I finished:

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - I loved this so much, absolutely tore though it. I love the series, so sad that this was the last one. I'm really hoping that once she takes a break and writes some other stuff, that she might come back in a few years. Used it for book nerds book set in a made up place, and for ATY book with an ensemble cast.

Libertie - This is part of Roxanne Gay's book club. I had high hopes for it, but fell kind of flat for me. I think the book blurb was a bit misleading, and I just wasn't feeling it. Kept reading other stuff/getting distracted. Used it for Booknerds book set in a country I've never visited. The second half+ of the book takes place in Haiti which I've never been to.

Love Bites- re-read I was distracting myself with

Currently reading:

Nothing just yet, need to figure it out. OR maybe go back to 1Q84 finally. but I do think i need a few quick reads to get back in a groove before trying that.

QOTW:

This is related to the book club, are people still interested in continuing it?
Not very many people have participated this past round. Just wondering what is up. Are people having a problem getting the book? Or has everyone just been busy and haven't gotten around to posting? Not trying to pressure people, but I just wondered if there's something I did wrong or COULD do to improve. Also wondering if I should be setting up selection for a new book, or if people need more time to get this one read/write posts. Mostly want to know if there's still interest in it, and if so, if there's anything I could do to improve. Thanks!

Glad I requested early! Not sure AA is in the same system I am in or not. (I requested before book actually came out, let me recommend it ahead of time and put me on the list automatically)

Hi all, sorry for a late post again!

This was a slow reading week for me, all I finished was Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Normally if a book takes me that long to finish it’s because I was bored or just not feeling it. But in this case it was more that it was so thought provoking that I’d read a few paragraphs and then sit and think about it. Really made me consider my relationship to the earth and the environment and what all I can do to improve. Also there was a lot of heartbreaking history of how the US treated the various Indigenous people, as well as descriptions of what various corporations and the like have done to the land that used to be their homes.

Currently reading:

The Great Believers - this is my next books & brew, not very far yet so no real opinion.

QOTW:

How’s everyone’s reading going this year? Whether it’s challenge based, or just what sort of things you picked. Are you liking what you’ve read? Had bad luck with selections? Been in a rut? Been on a roll?

I feel like I’m having a bit of a slower year than usual. I haven’t really resumed anything like “normal” life aside from some small hang outs with vaccinated friends, so it’s not really a time thing. More just flightier attention span, I guess. A lot of sitting down to read and scrolling on my phone instead, or staring off into space. It’s not a big deal, just annoying having the little goodreads challenge reminding me I’m behind. I might actually drop the target down just to get it to stop judging me haha. But I’ve had a pretty good year as far as most of what I’ve read has been 3 star + books, so that’s pretty nice. Been enjoying my book club’s selections more than other years too.

Woo getting a post in early for a change!

Hasn't been that long since the last post since I was late, hope everyone is doing well!

Note for book club: Threads are all posted! Feel free to tell your thoughts, there's also a finished reading thread if you just want to give all your thoughts at once instead of in sections.

This week I finished:

The Midnight Library - this was my books & brew read. I liked it, but didn't seem to hit me like a lot of people who LOVED it. I got kind of caught up in some of the mechanics which were distracting. I used it for book nerds book with a three word title, and around the year book related to the present (i figured that since she's in a limbo time for most of it, it's like continuously being in the present)

The Bloodprint - This was really disappointing for me. I thought it looked really interesting, fantasy based on a more middle-eastern setting. It just didn't work for me. I got bored even in the action scenes, I couldn't connect to the characters. The romance felt forced. Got tired of the main character being described as so beautiful, and how every male character just couldn't keep their eyes off her and wanted to marry her. Also she's in a position requiring a vow of chastity, yet somehow a romance was shoved in. Also ended on a big cliffhanger, which I hate. The current arc should be wrapped up in a book. Authors should make a reader want to read more because it's just so good you can't wait, not try to make you read more because they stopped the story in the middle. I didn't like it enough to read more, and it bugs me that there's no resolution. Anyhow I used it for my posugar Muslim American author, although she's British Bandadian, she lives in America right now. Not really sure why the American part would be important anyhow. Also used it for book nerds, book with a map,

Currently reading:

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants - just started, not very far yet.

1Q84 - no progress. Really should get a move on this so I can just get it off my plate.

QOTW:

Most readers tend to prefer the book to the movie or tv show, but what do you think the best movie/tv adaptions are?

I think The Martian is great. The changes they made made sense for the screen, not frivolous. My only real qualm about it is that I think they stripped Mindy's character of most her humor/personality. Otherwise I felt like it really captured the tone and feeling of the book, while keeping it watchable.

I thought the Sharp Objects show did an excellent job with it, very slow burn but really great. The stuff they added to fill it out to a mini series length didn't feel forced. Loved Amy Addams in the role. Dark Places was also a great adaption. Gone Girl was actually probably my least favorite Gilian Flynn adaption, although it was decent. Mostly because I feel like the time got compressed in the movie, so you really didn't get the sense of how everything dragged out and just what lengths the Amy was going through. It just felt less impactful.

I'm sure there's others, but those spring to mind.

Yeah, for sure on Dragonflight. Luckily her Harper Hall ones still hold up pretty well, those were always my favorite! And I think the telepath books and petaybee ones hold up ok (although I still think the Damia and Afra thing is...weird.)

THis is the place for final thoughts, or thoughts about the book as a whole. If you don’t feel like doing multiple posts, here’s the place to sum up overall thoughts!

Did you like it? Why or why not?

What are your parting thoughts about this world’s witchcraft and womanhood?

How does sisterhood play a part throughout?

This is the discussion area for The Once and Future Witches part 4 & 5 (to the end)

There will be another post for overall final thoughts, this is just dealing with the last two sections.

How did you react to the Gideon Hall revelation? What do you think he wants from Juniper?

Why do you think Juniper made the decision that she made? Do you think it was inevitable?

What did you think about the ending?

Any other thoughts?

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay again. Been a busy week, visited in-laws since they’re vaccinated and we’re in the safe zone for our first doses at least. It was my Husband’s birthday and that’s what he wanted to do. So I was traveling Thursday, and Friday watch catching up from 2 days off. Got our second doses yesterday! Been very run down and achey today, but otherwise ok.

Book club I started putting up book club threads, but goodreads kept giving me errors for the last of the sections posts. I tried with 3 brand new posts and it kept giving me errors. so we’ll see if this posts, or if goodreads is just borked.

This week I finished;

Smiling Bears: A Zookeeper Explores the Behavior and Emotional Life of Bears - Really loved this! I love bears, it was full of charming stories about a zookeeper who specialized in them. I counted it for my popsugar and book nerds book on a subject you’re passionate about.

Lightless - This was an interesting read for me. I really like slow burn sci fi movies (think things like Moon, Ex Machina, Arrival). This felt in a similar vein. It counts for my popsugar locked room mystery, book nerds book with a rebellion,

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - FInally finished this, ended up having to binge the last 8 hours or so in 1 day, bit of a marathon. But it was much better than I expected. I’m not that big of an Eragon fan, so I wasn’t terribly interested in his other work. But I ADORE Jennifer Hale as a voice actress, and she narrates the audio book. So figured even if it sucked, hey Commander Shepard reading me a story. I liked it pretty well, I got a lot of the sci fi references. Maybe felt a little long, but I enjoyed! Counted for book nerds audiobook, ATY book with more than 6 words.

Currently reading:

The Bloodprint - Not very far in this, was focusing on audio book, and another book that’ll be on the coming week’s post.

1Q84 - Still no real progress

QOTW:

Are there any books you loved but didn’t like on re-reading?

I kind of get a sense of books I have aged out of, so there are a number of books I’ve avoided re-reading because of this. I don’t think I would appreciate Narnia as much now as I did as a kid, I’m not intending to re-read. Also I read Ready Player One for book club a few years ago, and rated it high. But any time I think back on the book, I can’t remember why I liked it. And think of things that annoyed me in retrospect. So at this point I’m not planning on re-reading because I figure I wouldn’t really like it a second time around.