Sheri’s
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(group member since Jul 25, 2016)
Sheri’s
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from the EPBOT Readers group.
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Hi all, time to select a new book for the new year! Same rules as usual apply:
1) Don't just list books you plan on reading. Give a sentence or two why you think we should read as a group.
2) If someone suggests something you like, you can "vote" by agreeing with it in the comments. If there a bunch of options, I'll pul the ones that have the most support.
3) If you have suggested things in past polls, even if they did well, suggest them here again. I will not be going to past posts to look for suggestions.
I'll gather options at the end of next week to make a poll.
Hi EveryoneHappy New Year! Hope everyone made it through the end of year ok, and is having a good start to the year.
Book Club I am going to make a book suggestion thread after this. So start thinking about what you want to read!
This week I finished:
Strange the Dreamer - I was really enjoying this up until the ending. The ending made me mad enough that I don't think I'm going to continue reading and I took off a start. It literally had "to be continued" written in it. That's just unacceptable for me. Either write one book and accept it's long, or finish your thought and wrap the book up properly. There was a spot 50 some pages earlier that would have been a good ending point, if sad. Barreling right on past it ruined the poignancy of the moment, and just made me angry. I went ahead and read a summary of the next book and it just sounds rambling and confusing anyhow so I'm just done. It was technically my first book of the year because I was only 60% done on new Years Eve, so I finished New Years Day. I never like when that happens, i like a nice clean start for the new year. oh well.
Starling House - I'd borrowed this from the library a couple weeks ago but then kept getting distracted and not reading it. So finally sat down and got to it and loved it. So dark and creepy and fairy tale like. I've enjoyed most everything Alix E Harrow has written.
Currently reading:
A Killing Frost - back to october daye, no longer re-reading! Now i'm to reading new to catch up to current. This one I had from the Seanan McGuire humble bundle last year, does mean I have to read it on my phone though because I didn't realize it was kobo-only until after I bought it. (it was confusingly written. It mentioned Kobo, but it also said could be read on all devices which I interpreted as "also my kindle" but that was not the case. at least not without messing with some sort of file converter and I'm not feeling like messing with that right now)
Nettle & Bone - doing an audio re read for my books & brew book club. It's a delightful dark fairy tale, still enjoying it the second time around.
QOTW:
Do you have any reading goals for the year? Doesn't have to be anything concrete like a challenge or specific numbers.
I kind of accidentally wandered my way into a bunch of reading challenges last year and finished them all without really straining too hard. I was all set to do something similar this year, but I'm just not really feeling it yet this year. Nothing I want to read this second is slotting into prompts nicely. So this year my reading goal is to just take it easy and read what I want, and not feel like i HAVE to do challenges just because I have done them before. Except my book club TBR challenge because that's a communal group one with friends, and it's always nice to clear books I actually bought off my tbr list. I did cut it down from 22 books last year to 14 this year. I'll probably read more than that out of my owned books, but they'll be ones I choose myself.
Hi all, Been trying to get all ready for the holidays! Got all my out of state/country Christmas cards out, will hopefully get in-state ones out tonight. Been getting things clean and decluttered in preparation for company coming. Have meals semi planned, baking in freezer ready to be thawed. Still need to wrap presents!
Hope those celebrating are also doing well on holiday prep!
This week I finished:
Sweet Paprika, Vol. 1Sweet Paprika, Vol. 2, trying to start to poke at my comic backlog. This is a cute one so far, if spicy.
The Brightest Fell - continuing with the october daye readthrough.
System Collapse - I love murderbot so much! This was a great one. The only problem is...I'm now out of Murderbot.
Currently reading:
Night and Silence - continuing on with more October day, one more after this and I am caught up to where i left off. Then into new territory!
Sweet Paprika, Vol. 3 -finishing up what's out of the series, bit at a time.
QOTW: Now that it's the end of the year, what are some favorite reads of the year?
A handful of my favorites are:
System Collapse - can't go wrong with murderbot
Bookshops & Bonedust - a great follow up/prequel to Legends and Lattes.
Stealing from Wizards: Volume 3: Kidnapping- So charming and fun.
Hi all, Sorry again for lack of posting. Super chaotic end of year! Been all over the place, and have had trouble finding time to type up a post. Hope everyone is hanging in there for the end of the year! Whether you're celebrating holidays or just trying to make it through to the end of the year.
Also start thinking of book club selections, I think i'll start it back up in the new year. Sorry, I just haven't had a chance to set up a new poll and it seemed like not many people read the last one (and I didn't really have time to get to it myself).
The last couple weeks I read:
Iron Flame - This was good, but I didn't like it as much as Fourth Wing. Too much bickering and hiding things and not communicating. I also didn't love the ending. However I'll still read the next when it comes out just to see where it goes.
A Red-Rose Chain, Once Broken Faith - more october daye re-reads,
The Last White Man - books & brew read. Pretty much one of us liked this one much. It had an interesting idea, but it wasn't really well thought out and was pretty superficial. Didn't really go anywhere.
Bookshops & Bonedust - finally got my hold from my library! I loved it as much as I loved Legends & Lattes. So good. It was nice seeing Viv as a younger, more rash Orc, and I liked the epilogue tying the two together.
Currently reading:
The Brightest Fell - continuing more October. Two books after this and I'll be caught up to where I left off! Then I'll start on catching up to current.
QOTW:
Will borrow from popsugar again: Do you ever read the ending of the book first?
I try not to. Sometimes with physical books I'll catch accidental glimpses when trying to see page count. I hate when that happens, I always try to keep eyes up on the corner!
Hi all,Sorry about the sporadic posting things have been hectic. Been trying to finish half bath remodel, and was trying to get it done before hosting Thanksgiving so took a few days off the week before to get it painted once the tile work was finished so the plumbing could go in. Plumbing got finished the wednesday before Thanksgiving, so we didn't have working lights but we could at least put battery powered lanterns in there and have it usable, so counted that a win! The bathroom was the one right off the kitchen, so was the most convenient one for when we're hosting, so people don't have to go upstairs.
It's been a while since I checked in, I lost track of where I left off. So i'm just going to start with I'm doing an October Daye re-read to get caught up to where I left off last and refresh my memory, so that I can then continue on and get caught up to current. One of the libraries my library joined in a digital collective actually has the October Daye books digitally so I don't have to mess around with library loans for physical books. Usually I buy them when I go to Powells in Portland, but not making it there the last two years means I got behind. Especially with a double drop this year.
Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
One Salt Sea
Ashes of Honor
Chimes at Midnight
Currently reading:
Role Playing - for an online book club, taking a quick break. It's cute. Nice change from having a 20-somethings romance. Also a geek romance, but it's not cringy non-geeks trying to write geeks. Or "yes they're geeks but they're also geeks who have six packs without working out and are model thin with perfect hair".
Iron Flame - audio book. I'm still liking the second, maybe not as much as the first. but also having a harder time getting into an audio groove. it's winter so not doing long walks as much.
QOTW:
How is your reading looking for the year? Are you happy with what you read? Have things you still want to get to?
I'm pretty satisfied. At this point i'm mostly just reading through October Daye, and I have my IRL book club to get through. Might try to do a comic binge too over a few days. I finished popsugar reading challenge, my TBR challenge, I did all of Read Harder except the DNF prompt which i decided was more trouble than it's worth. Most the time if I actually DNF a book there's a reason. ANd most the ones I stopped because I wasn't in the right mood for, I decided I'm STILL not in the right mood for.
I haven’t done the secret history or goldfinch yet because they seem so polarizing. The people who love it won’t bear a word against them and the people who hate it really hate it. And I can’t really tell which side of the fence I’d fall and they’re long.
Hi all, sorry I missed last week. It's been a very migraine-y couple weeks. All the weather fluctuating between freezing but in the 60s but no rainy no sunny no freezing again no 50s. Plus the time change, didn't help at all. I've woken up every day thinking it really should be saturday, and been disappointed that it's not.
The good news is that the tile in our half bath is finally done! Hopefully the guys will do the finishing clean up on the drywall tomorrow, and we can prime and paint this weekend. Then we can get the new fixtures installed and have a functional bathroom again!!
This week I finished:
Stealing from Wizards: Volume 3: Kidnapping - I had preordered this for kindle and immediately skipped the rest of my library books as soon as I finished the one I was in the middle of to read it. I loved it so much, Ryan did not disappoint.
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me - this was interesting, a book about working as a security guard for the met. Sort of a memoir of his own life and what led him to seeking out that job, especially as young as he was, and then what led him to leave it even though he really did love it. I thought it was an interesting read.
Currently reading:
The Splinter in the Sky - space opera, reminding me of The Memory Called Empire. I am liking it so far.
When Women Were Dragons - audio book, i'm liking it quite a bit. I like how they're weaving the history into the dragoning and treating it how probably the world would have treated the occurrences.
QOTW:
I am borrowing from popusgar again, how many books from the goodreads most popular books have you read? https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2...
If you read them did you like or dislike them?
I've read 35 of them. Most of them I enjoyed pretty well, some were just ok. A few were pretty high, especially Project Hail Mary, Carrie Soto Is Back, Malibu Rising,Pachinko.
I dnfed Beartown, and I probably would have dnfed A Gentleman in Moscow if if it hadn't been for book club. A few more are on my tbr, a few are on my "no interest whatsoever" and the others i'm kinda indifferent. I might read them if book club picks them or something else comes up to give me reason, but I don't have specific plans to.
Hi everyoneBeen a long week, glad it's getting close to over! Have a big halloween party/concert two night event this weekend, first time since *gesturing at everything*.
This week I finished:
These Violent Delights - this was alright. it was nominally a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but I think the author was trying too hard to shove in references to R +J to sell that she was still trying to keep on that track while deviating wildly. You can still have star crossed lovers and NOT name them derivatives of Romeo and Juliet and try to put in awkward references to the text every so often to make sure it's clear what you're referencing. Also while i'm fine with series and duologies and stuff, i don't like it when it feels like something should have been a longer book but the author decided to just stop in the middle with a to be continued. I'm kind of on the fence whether to look for the second. I'm annoyed I didn't finish the story, but I also am not super invested where i really feel like working for it.
Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants - I liked this pretty well, although it got pretty preachy in parts.
A Head Full of Ghosts - this was my books & brews book club pick. Had some mixed feelings about it. I don't super love mixing mental illness with horror, it leads to a lot of misunderstanding about mental illness. The way things ended was somewhat inconclusive, which I get. It wasn't as bad as I was worried it could have been, and I did enjoy reading it alright.
Currently reading:
Audio book for Where'd You Go, Bernadette- Needed a book to movie adaption book for my library's genre genius challenge. I love Cate Blanchette so I'd been kind of eyeing this movie. Figured I'd check the book out first.
I just finished the head full of ghosts, haven't decided what to start next.
QOTW: I'll borrow from popsugar: Do you like to do seasonal reading?
I don't make a point of it, but sometimes it's nice. I do generally try to read The Night Circus in the fall, it just feels like a good start of autumn book, get the kind of spooky magic vibes going. And I have been kind of gravitating towards some more witchy type stuff. Towards holiday time I tend to like to do series reading, cozy stuff, stuff I don't have to think too hard about. But I also do a lot of library stuff, so holds often dictate what i read, even if it's not necessarily what i am most in the mood for.
Rebecca, depends I suppose. It’s semi self contained, in that it’s dealing with separate characters so it’s not entirely reliant on the first. However there is an overarching plot that is established in the first book. It does get rehashed in the second, to some level. You would be missing a fair amount of that, but you could probably kinda figure some of it out based on what this book gives you. If you’re not too picky about spoilers and the like you could probably read this one first to see how you like the authors style and go back and read the first if it caught you enough you want to fill in the gaps
Hi All, Thanks Susan for posting last week! It was really hectic and I just didn't get a chance. And I thought yesterday was Friday all day and kept being disappointed. The last couple weeks I finished:
A Restless Truth - I liked this quite a bit, good romance and a fun mystery, I liked the magical setting. A lot of spice for those not into that sort of thing.
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics -This was an interesting audiobook. I don't really follow sports or olympics much, but it was interesting to learn more about that year's olympics and some of the logic behind WHY America still went to the olympics in Germany during that time. (1936 Olympics). Ended up being pretty typical eye rolling type reasoning.
The Weaver and the Witch Queen- I'm not really familiar with Icelandic/Nordic historical sagas, beyond the more famous Norse mythology. But this apparently is a historical fantasy version of a quasi-historical figure of Gunnhild the Mother of Queens. She's often painted as very unsympathetic, ruthless, an evil sorceress, using her beauty and sexuality as a weapon etc. So this is a kind of similar take that a lot of other authors are doing with Greek mythology and the like, reimagining these myths and histories from the women's perspectives based on what we know of the times. This was historical fantasy though, and the author makes it clear how much hard evidence we have of the time, since so much of what we have is based on oral history. I liked it quite a bit.
Weyward - Did the audio for this, I liked this a lot but it needed many CWs. You can ask if you're interested, but mostly it involves the sort of violence and trials a woman can face and the different ways they can react and respond to that trauma in their lives. But coated in a sort of fairytale like setting with earth magic and a tale twining between three lives set across centuries. I liked it, but a bit difficult at parts.
Record of a Spaceborn Few , The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - re reads
Hamlet - did the audio drama from bbc for this specifically for Michael Sheen as Hamlet, he did amazing as always. I needed another play for my library's genre genius challenge.
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine - needed another biography/autobiography/memoir for the genre genius. I had done a biography of Elizabeth Blackwell when I was a child in elementary school, so it was interesting what I remembered an didn't. I didn't remember that she also had a sister who became a surgeon, or that she worked some with Florence Nightengale. I also don't think the children's version went much into the politics of being a woman doctor or things like her refusing to sit out the reproductive lectures just because she'd be the only woman in a class of men.
The Night Circus - It's fall, so was time for my annual Night Circus re-read. Lovely as always.
Currently Reading:
These Violent Delights - need another retelling for my genre genius challenge. This is sort of very loosely a Romeo and Juliet but set in 1920's Shanghai with the Cais vs the Montagovs as rival gangs fighting for control of the city.
Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants - Audio book, need one more book of scientific nonfiction.
QOTW: Would you rather be stuck on an island without a book OR be stuck in a room full of books you don’t like?
This is a tough one, but I think I'd personally go for no book. Books I don't like become a chore. If I had an island without books, I could run around. It doesn't say either situation is a "and you'll die because there's no other basic necessities". So i'll assume the island has food, shelter, just no books. So I could figure out paper, or maybe find some and finally write my own, or draw, paint, create things etc. Yes I'd miss books, but in a room with only books I didn't want to read, I'd still have no books I'd WANT to read, but they'd be taunting me.
Hi everyone, Hope you are all having a good week! I got my covid booster this week, still having a bit of a sore arm and feeling a little run down, but not too bad. Been doing my Mab's Drawlloween Art, so keeping busy.
This week I finished:
A Marvellous Light- Read this for an online book club. I liked it quite a bit, sort of historical fantasy mystery romance. I will warn, it has a LOT of not-closed-door spice for those who aren't into that.
Mika in Real Life - My IRL books and brew club pick. I was kind of on the fence in this one. It was an easy read, easy to get through. But Deliberate false identity/fake life/lies type plots really give me secondhand anxiety. I kept putting the book down going "that's a dumb plan, stop that's not going to work. This is going to blow up in your face." There were a few other things that bothered me as well. That being said, I did like the relationships between Mika and Penny and THomas, as well as her friendships.
Lessons in Chemistry - I liked listening to this a lot. Was very engaging. That being said, it kind of felt more like a wish-fulfillment story than an actual historical fiction.
A Restless Truth - The next book in the Last binding Trilogy , sequel to A Marvellous Light. I liked this one quite a bit too, once again quite a big of open-door spice if that is not people's cup of tea. The last book is out in early november, I already have a hold on it in my library although I'm #9 so it might be a while. Maybe my library will decide to get additional digital copies, or some people will skip their place in line.
Currently reading:
I just finished A Restless Truth so I haven't really started anything, but The Weaver and the Witch Queen is next up.
For audio I am doing The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It's ok. I got recommended it with glowing recommendations, and several people on my list gave it 5 stars, so I'm not sure if it's just a lackluster reader or what. But I keep finding my attention wandering, or dozing off while listening to it. Lessons in Chemistry featured rowing so I thought it'd be a nice segue into this.
QOTW:
Borrowing from popsugar again: Are there any books in particular that you still intend to read before the end of 2023?
I still have a few new releases coming up I hope to get in. Bookshops & Bonedust, Stealing from Wizards: Volume 3: Kidnapping, System Collapse are probably at the top of the list. The aforementioned Last Binding book too, but if i'm 9 on the hold list, not sure I'll get it before end of year or not, that might be a first book of the new year sort of deal.
Hi all, Back from my unwanted Ohio vacation. it went about how I expected. Did have some fun hiking, and doing the animal wilds trip. But otherwise it was kind of an awkward, not very relaxing vacation, and I got food poisoning I'm still feeling run down from. And I had a doctors appointment yesterday that I got my flu shot at, so that hit harder than usual due to feeling a bit under the weather already. My delayed party is tomorrow, hoping i feel better in the morning!
This week I finished:
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology - short story collection of spooky fiction from Indigenous writers. Like most short story collections, some I liked, others were meh. I'm glad I read it though.
The Final Gambit - conclusion to the first arc of the inheritance games. this was a fun YA series. I liked how it wrapped up, it fixed some of the misgivings I had. There's also a new arc in the series that just came out a couple weeks ago, The Brothers Hawthorne. It looked like the new one is from the perspective from one of the brothers this time, instead of Avery.
A Simple Favor - read this for my library's genre genius challenge, for books made into movies. I actually think i like the movie more, although I'm not sure if it's because I saw the movie first or if because the story really isn't that strong but at least the movie has Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively to hold it up.
A Closed and Common Orbit - finished up for bedtime re-read.
Currently reading:
A Marvellous Light - just started, so no real opinions yet.
Lessons in Chemistry - also pretty newly started, audio book.
QOTW:
Borrowing from popsugar again: Have you ever read a banned book and understood why it was banned? Not saying you condoned the banning, just that you understood.
I've read banned books that I could understand why someone would not want to read them themselves, or why they would not want THEIR child to not read them until they were older. But I am against banning books, so I don't really understand the whole "I don't want to read this so no one else should either" mentality. Even for books I super don't want to exist, I still just don't want people to read them because I want them to make the right choice, I don't want to make the choice for them. ( for stuff that has blatantly hateful mis-information, things like that).
Hi all, Trying to get a quick post up before heading on a little vacation. Not super excited, it was unilaterally decided and planned for us by my husband's parents, completely ignoring my requests "Please don't do it in September because this is a milestone birthday year and I would like to have the month free so I don't have to worry about using too many vacation days and not being able to take time off for my birthday" and then they went and planned it for the weekend/week after my birthday. Sigh. So I wasn't able to even take the day of my birthday off and had to postpone my birthday party until next weekend. But i'll try to have some fun.
This week I finished:
The Archive Undying - Finally finished this. It was interesting, but very dense and very confusing. the perspective kept shifting around and there were several sections in second person, but it wasn't always the same person speaking in second person so it got very confusing trying to figure out WHO was speaking. It was just fascinating enough to keep me reading, but tedious and confusing enough that I don't think i'll continue the series when the next comes out.
The Tea Dragon Society, The Tea Dragon Festival The Tea Dragon Tapestry This was such a charming series! The art was beautiful, the stories were sweet, and I want a plushie of all the tea dragons. I'm going to need to find physical copies of them now.
Thornhedge - I always like retellings and T Kingfisher so I enjoyed this. Although it wasn't my favorite of hers, I think it wasn't as in depth as some of her other stories. However I really loved Toadling, so it was still fun to read.
The Hawthorne Legacy - still very YA, but it's still a fun audiobook that doesn't require a lot of attention. It seems like the love triangle is pretty resolved by the end of this one, I'm hoping it stays that way. I really hate that trope.
Night Warrior - I read this for a reading challenge for a local author, it's a friend of a friend and he lives within a 10 minute drive of me. The premise was right up my alley, reverse portal fantasy. But the writing....eehhh. It was not good. I think "Feel the sweet release of death!" was uttered at least 20 times. Very overblown writing, it felt like the kind of fantasy that's used to make fun of fantasy. I admit I kinda fudged my rating becaue i have the feeling he's the kinda guy who reads his goodreads reviews and I didn't want to write an accurate rating with an honest review, so I just gave it a no-comment 3 stars which hopefully won't elicit comment. I don't want to hurt the dude's feelings but I'm not sure he's at "can take honest critiques of his work" stage yet.
Carrie Soto Is Back - Did the audio book for this, liked it much more than expected! I didn't particularly like her small appearance in Malibu Rising, and I care absolutely nothing about tennis. But my library is doing a genre genius challenge and I needed a sports book, and TJR always has solid audio books so I figured I might as well try it. I wouldn't say Carrie is exactly LIKEABLE, but that's kind of the point of the book. How women are always expected to be soft and nice and likeable. How if she celebrates her victory or talks smack or is confident about winning it's seen as being arrogant or ungracious or a poor winner, when the same behavior in male athletes would be considered confidence and bravado. It's an interesting counter to Malibu Rising where Nina was sexy and pretty and wasn't allowed to actually compete in surfing because it might ruin her modeling career as a surf-model if people knew how well she did or didn't surf. And when suggestive slogans were paired with her ads, people took that as permission to touch her or make comments on her body all the time. Women in the public eye can't really win either way.
Currently reading:
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology - a collection of short dark stories by various Indigenous authors. Includes a bunch of pretty recognizable names like Cherie Demaline, Rebecca Roanhouse, Tommy Orange, among others. As well as some lesser known ones or first time published authors. I'm really liking so far.
A Simple Favor - audio book, needed a book to movie title that I haven't already read. I wached the movie a few months ago and liked it alright. Interesting seeing where the movie differed.
QOTW:
Borrowing from popsugar again because I'm tired. Have you ever read a retelling that you ended up liking better than the original?
I don't know if I would say the retellings are BETTER than the original, but several I like/enjoy more for various reasons. One of my favorites is The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein that tells the story from Elizabeth's perspective. It gives a lot more depth and agency to the women involved in the story, and makes Dr Frakenstein out to be more than just a bumbling doctor who didn't quite know what to do with his creation.
Hi all, Had a good news, somewhat bad news week. Teddy and Moxie both had to go to the vet Monday. Teddy got an A+ from the vet, no signs of regrowth of tumor, great hair growth, good weight, no signs of problems. So yay! Moxie however has been losing weight, been having some litter box issues etc. So her results came back and she's got thyroid problems. Right now we're trying medicine. Have to give her a half pill twice a day. Luckily we found a new wet food that works for her, and she really likes it. So far we've gotten her to eat the pills by hiding them in a glob of food. Let's hope that keeps up!
Also tomorrow I am going to the going away party for my best friend who is moving to California for the next 3-5 years. I'm really bummed! Hopefully she does come back. They're not selling their Michigan house, at least not right now.
This week I finished:
Hell Bent - I liked this quite a lot, maybe even more than the first one. I'm bummed that I have to wait however long until the next comes out! The dangers of getting into a fairly new series!
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - this was very meh for me. I admit i didn't go into it with the best mindset. I was in the middle of a book that was taking me longer than I expected, so I had to put it down and start this to get it done in time for book club. Ended up having to super speed read it to get it done because I really wasn't feeling it. I just didn't like the writing style. it had a very "written by a dude" feel with the way the women were written. Lots of talking about the size of their breasts and behinds, lots of talking about sex, stuff like that. Also dropped a LOT of slurs. most the characters were Afro-Caribbean so I guess there could be an argument for reclaiming the n-word. But there were other slurs used that you can't make that argument for.
The Inheritance Games- another audio book. I had wanted a book with brothers for the book nerds challenge so googled around and found this series. PoV character is a girl, but the four hawthorn brothers are all pretty major characters. It's a pretty fun series. Kind of like YA Knives Out. I could do without the love triangle, but whatever. There's still some books left, but i'm also a little annoyed at how much is made of the charity wing of the family giving out 100 million a year. Sure, for regular people that's a huge amount. But this family has double digit of billions. That's like...a drop in the bucket for them. So what are they doing with the rest of their money if only a 100 million is going to their good works? They have the largest personal residence in Texas, a bowling alley in their home, multiple airplanes, an entire lawyer firm that only works for them, own a football team etc. Just kinda tired of the glamorous billionaire. They are the problem in the world.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - re read before bedtime
Currently reading:
The Hawthorne Legacy - audio book. Still fun, new twists. More will they wont they between hawthorn boys.
The Archive Undying - had to set this down to finish the oscar wao. Should finish this up at lunch. Have the last 5% left. It's very confusing and dense, but also fascinating.
QOTW:
Borrowing from Popsugar again: Do you read multiple books at the same time?
I used to be very one book at a time. But now I almost always have an audio book going. Plus I often will have a re read or lighter book going if i'm reading something heavy/scary. And i'm seeing a sleep doctor, she recommended I read something before bed that I'm not super invested in so I don't get tempted to stay up all night reading. Like I'd ever do that. *cough*. So that's why I started a long way to a small angry planet. I've read that several times so it's pretty easy to just read for 15 minutes and put down.
I liked Lady Tan, glad you liked it too! Agreed on the foot binding though.
I forgot about Bookshops & Bonedust, excited for that one too! Also Stealing from Wizards vol 3 is out in November!
Hi all, sorry I missed last week's post. Coming back from vacation + leading up to a holiday weekend made things kind of chaotic. Hope those in the US had a nice labor day weekend though!
The last couple weeks I finished:
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - re-read so I could read the next one for my TBR challenge. I don't think i liked it AS much the second time around, but still fun.
For We Are Many - last book for my TBR challenge, so done with that, woo! 22 books off my owned-but-not-read tbr, picked by people in my irl book club.
Ninth House - did the audio for this, I liked it pretty well. Enough to continue the series.
The Vegetarian - I think i liked this? very weird. Not really traditional horror at all, just...very strange and some upsetting content. Kind of one of those "glad I read, wouldn't read again".
The Modern Girl's Guide to Magic - read this for a discord book club. It was alright. Cute enough, easy read. But I was kinda annoyed how easy everything was. Was set up like enemies to lovers, but it felt very "ok lets skip over that and get onto the lovers part". No real consequences for many actions, no real conflicts.
Remarkably Bright Creatures - I liked this pretty well, but not as well as a lot of people seemed to. I think I'd have liked it all better if it were from Marcellus' perspective the whole time, haha. His bits were funny and I loved them. My main issue was (view spoiler)
Currently reading:
The Archive Undying -I saw a random book ad for this and it looked fascinating. It kind of is, but at the same time the way it's written I'm having a lot of time really visualising the world that is being built, or really understanding what is going on. I keep getting the various AI's confused. I'm going to stick with it for now. Hopefully it comes together more as it gets going.
Hell Bent - audio book to continue the series.
The Tea Dragon Society - graphic novel read.
QOTW:
I'll borrow from Popsugar: Are there any books coming out in the rest of the year, or maybe came out this year that you just haven't gotten to that you're excited about?
I am super excited for the next Murderbot, as well as Starter Villain. And I just got my library copy of Thornhedge that I think came out pretty recently. I feel like there's more, but that is what is popping up in mind right now.
Hi all, trying to write a quick check in because I'm going out of town in the morning and I know it won't get posted if i don't!This week I finished:
The Stonewall Reader- this was a good history, the NYPL did a pretty good job at pulling from diverse sources for their recollections of the times before/during/after stonewall.
Fourth Wing - I'd done the audio book because it was available from the library and I'd heard tons of people talking about it. I'm usually a little dubious about super buzzy books, but once I saw there were dragon riders I had to give it a shot. I liked it a lot. Fair warning, there is much more spice than your average fantasy, for those who aren't into that.
Currently reading:
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - re read so I can read the sequel and finish up my TBR challenge!
Ninth House - decided to finally give this a shot, on audio. I don't seem to love Bardugo as much as some people do. I liked the six of crows books but i didn't LOVE them and didn't really feel compelled to go reading a bunch more by her. But I saw this recommended in the book nerds facebook group so figured I'd give a shot. Pretty good, although she's stilll not probably making my "favorite author" list.
QOTW:
I'll borrow from Pop Sugar this week. What makes you stop reading an author? Do you give an author multiple chances?
It depends for me. Sometimes I just really dislike the writing style enough that I just dont' really feel like dealing with it ever again, so they might only get one shot. If it's a book that I found kind of meh, but another book of theirs sounds like the plot is more interesting, I might still give them another shot. Others it's not so much that I refuse to read them again as I didn't feel compelled to read more but maybe would if something of theirs ever caught my eye. Others I either grew as a person/changed tastes/they changed and I stopped reading them over time. Piers Anthony and Laurel K Hamilton fall into that category for sure.
:Waving from Michigan: You picked a warm week to visit at least, last week was cold and rainy! Even got to the 50's. (temperature is relative. 50 in February is balmy, 50 in August is "no, i demand a refund on summer")
Hi all, I know I only posted last week's post on Monday, but i figured I'd try to get us back on track. Not a lot of new to report, aside from trying to get our half bath redone and it's a typical home improvement project. Meaning stuff is going wrong, it'll take much longer than expected, probably cost more too.
This week I finished:
Dread Nation - This was pretty good, I liked the characters and it had a lot of action.
Currently reading:
The Stonewall Reader - a collection of essays and excerpts from a diverse array of lgbtqia+ people just before, during, and after Stonewall, trying to explore why THAT particular riot was seen as the start of the pride movement. I'm still in the pre-stonewall section, but it's really interesting so far.
Fourth Wing - my library actually had the audiobook available for this, so i decided to see what the hype was all abut. especially once I saw dragonriders, i was sold. I'm actually really loving it. Fair warning: it is MUCH steamier than your average fantasy book. I don't personally mind that, but I know others prefer things to be closed door or fade to black type things.
QOTW:
A counter to last week's question:
Are there any books that are considered terrible but you love?
I actually really liked the Twilight books, and The Host when they came out. I know the writing wasn't great, but it was enjoyable and I read them several times. I recognize the various problems with them, but i still had fun with them.
I'm sure there are others, but that's the one that springs to mind as being widely panned for being terrible.
