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

Sheri’s comments from the EPBOT Readers group.

I love hearing what everyone comfort-reads! Such a variety too.

Hi Everyone!

Hope everyone's doing well, and having fun reading!

I don't have a whole lot to report this week, I spent the weekend plowing through all the comic titles I follow. The only thing that counts towards even my reading goal is Aquaman, Volume 1: The Trench. Everything else was single issues of various ongoing titles I follow.

So the only book I finished was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which i my microhistory. It was a good read, but sad and made me very mad at the medical industry. It seems like so much progress comes from exploiting the vulnerable.

Up next is Palimpsest, which I think will count for ATY's book with a map. I think the prompt technically meant one of the books that has a map in the beginning, but this one involves maps so I think i'm counting it anyhow.

I'm at 25/50 for popsugar, so halfway, woo! 22/52 for ATY and 6/24 for read harder.

What books do you turn to when you just need to read something you love? Whether you need a mental break, or had a bad day, or you just are in a slump and need something to get you jump started again. It can be a genre, or particular books.

Science fiction and fantasy are my go-to genres, but fantasy in particular. Mercedes Lackey books are often my comfort reads/breaks. Particularly her fairytale retelling books. Also my Argeneu vampire romances because they are silly, easy to read, and everything generally comes out ok in the end.

Susan, I really liked Redshirts, even though I'm not really a trek fan. I absorbed enough pop culture knowledge to get at least some of the blatant references. I'm sure I missed a lot of the more obscure nods though!

Also that's a great story about your son :)

Daniele,

Glad to hear you're reading again!

Hi everyone, hope your reading is going well!

Still cold and snowy in Michigan, although we at least missed the huge snowfalls plaguing the east coast. I'm ready for spring!

This week I finished:

Black Panther: World of Wakanda - just for fun, picked it up to support a cool book shop. I liked it, but it kind of assumes you've been reading black panther, which I haven't been.

99 Red Balloons - Popsugar's Book with song lyrics in the title. It was just ok. The story felt overly complicated, and it strained my ability to suspend disbelief. I did eventually care about the characters and what happened, but it just wasn't a great book. I had trouble with this prompt. There's only so many books with song lyrics as titles, and none of them were really appealing to me.

Nick Cave: Mercy on Me - Popsugar's novel about a real person. Also counting it for ATY's book involving a murder. A lot of his songs are about killing people, and it's a thread through the novel. Might be a bit of a stretch but i'm going with it. It's a graphic novel, but it was still over 300 pages, so I'm counting it. I really liked the art and story, a fun read.

The Grimm Legacy - just for fun, someone over in FoE recommended them and my library had one for borrow. I liked it, good midgrade fun. Was a nice break.

Currently reading: I'm reading the Orphan Black: Deviations, maybe a couple more comics before I start The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks which will be my microhistory.

Obviously, since we are in a reading group, we're all readers here. But I know some people mentioned they were getting back into reading, or wanted to improve their reading habits. How did you get into reading? Did you love it as a child, or are you coming to it as an adult? I've met people who say they haven't read a book since school, which I simply can't imagine. So what is it that has kept you reading, past the time that you HAD to read?

For me, my mom was a big reader. She was always reading in her down time, and every night before bed she'd read me a bedtime story, sometimes even multiples. I think she instilled a love of reading in me, partially so I would be quiet and read with her, haha. I didn't pick up reading very fast, in kindergarten my teacher and mom thought maybe I had a reading disability because while I could read the individual words, I couldn't string them together to form sentences. But something clicked in first grade, and I went from the bottom reading group to the top within that year. After that I feel like i was always reading. Got into kids chapter books fairly young, because they'd last me longer than picture books. I think I had a pretty solid reading love long before school started bringing out the less fun stuff to read and things became a chore. I'd just split up my reading time, doing the assigned reading as fast as I could so I could get back to the stuff I WANTED to read. College was probably the time I read the least, in part due to having a computer I didn't have to share with my family for the first time, and having a tv that I had 100% control over. So I did a LOT Of internet and tv binging in those years. But even through then, i still READ, just not as much as I do now.

No problem Stephanie, although if anyone has any ideas feel free to message me. I keep scrolling through old popsugar's for ideas but I don't always want to parrot what they're asking.

Also yeah, I liked Handmaid's Tale back when I read it, but I was reading it during the previous presidency. I don't really want to re-read it now under the current one, I feel like it will ring far too close to home.

Hi everyone!

Wow, week 10 already! Year's zipping by fast.

I was in Chicago the past weekend, so did not have much reading time. All I finished was The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. . I liked it overall, but it was a real chore to get through. Normally I don't flinch at high page numbers, but something about this one just made it feel so long, even while i enjoyed it overall. I think maybe there were just too many incidentals included that werent' really plot relevant. It's my book with two authors for Popsugar, and my alternate history for ATY. (It's a little bit of a stretch, but since they're doing time travel for the express purpose of changing history and thus the present, I'm counting it)

Currently I am reading Mary Poppins which will be my Popsugar children's classic I never read, and my Read Harder children's classic written before 1990. I'm enjoying it so far, nice to have an easy brisk read after that tome.

I'm going to borrow Popsugar's reading group question this week, because it's interesting. Do you read the "it" books that generate a lot of buzz?

I generally don't go out of my way to read them, but I will click on them and read the descriptions. if they look like something I'd like, in general, I'll give them a try. Otherwise I won't bother, unless a lot of people I know, whose opinions I value, say a book's good. I find the ones I try can be pretty hit or miss. I keep bringing up Beartown, but that's one that was EVERYWHERE and everyone seems to love it, except me. Even within my own genres it can be hit or miss. I LOVED Bear and the NIghtengale, which I kept hearing a lot of buzz about, but I was pretty indifferent towards Snow Child even though on paper it looked right up my alley.

Oops, thanks! I was in a hurry when posting

Sorry I'm late! Usually I try to make a thread on Thursday, but we're going out of town for the weekend so yesterday was pretty hectic.

Michigan decided to be a butt and dump 7 inches of snow after a week of spring-like weather, so glad to be escaping town a bit. Not that I'm heading far south, but at least it'll be sunny and above freezing in Chicago.

I didn't finish much this week, I was trying to get caught up on some of my comics. (for the record, I did NOT accomplish this). So the only book I finished was The Cruel Prince I liked it pretty well, but it's brand new so the next book probably won't be until next year, at best. sigh .I'm counting it as my book with characters that are twins.

Currently I'm reading The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.. I read somewhere that it could be considered a heist, so might count it on that prompt. If not, it'll be my book with two authors. It's good so far. I'm also amused, because usually I read sephanson's solo work. He's pretty notorious for big infodumps on subjects he researched for his novels. I personally don't mind them, but a lot of people hate his writing because of them. At one point the narrator said "If you don't know what databases are, rest assured a lengthy explanation of what they are and how they work will not further the story at all. Go look it up yourself." Which I'm guessing is Nicole slapping Neal on the wrist saying "stop. we're not putting that in." It's also probably why this book is under 800 pages instead of over 1000 like his last few, haha.

How's everyone's reading going?

I don't have a handy question prepared this week, so I'll wing it.

Do you have certain writing foibles that you normally don't like, but are willing to forgive in certain books or authors because you love them?

As I mentioned, Stephanson is king of the info dump. Normally I don't like that kind of thing, I'll skim through chunks of other books if I find they're being tediously detailed. But I love his writing and his stories, so I'll sit there and absorb the convoluted gaming culture of gold farming in the middle of everything else going on. I also normally don't like series that are really formulaic but i'll still buy all of the Argeneau vampire romances by Lyndsay Sands. Even when I'm annoyed at them, I still just keep reading.

Meg, that is true! And a lot of older stuff does too, like Ursula k le guin’s work. Plus ray bradbury, Asimov, etc

Meg,

I think it's totally fair that if you only have limited reading time, to read what you want. Reading is my #1 hobby, and I read voraciously so I always feel like I SHOULD read more "important" stuff than all science fiction/fantasy. And I have been branching more and found stuff that I liked that surprised me! But I'd never say anyone should feel like they had to read stuff they didn't want to :) I try to break up my more "serious" reading with plenty of the stuff I like.

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a good week. It's sunny and warming up here, which I'm glad to see!

This week I finished:

Rich People Problems - book by an author of a different ethnicity than you. It was ok, but I was disappointed after the previous two. I really enjoyed them, this one seemed all over the place and spent too much time on characters that weren't Nick and Rachel.

What is Not Yours is Not Yours - book of award winning short stories. This was also just ok for me. I don't think i realized it was short stories going in, the description made it sound more like a narrative from many viewpoints. I don't always love short stories, i like having time to get to know a world and a character. These felt very fragmented, a lot of them ended and I was left going "...that's it?". I suppose it was well written, i just had trouble getting into it.

Currently reading:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - book with a vegetable in the title. I'm enjoying so far, almost half through now.

puts me at 18/50 for popsugar, 16/52 for ATY, 5/25 read harder.

How's everyone's reading going?

For those doing reading challenges: Are there any prompts you are dreading?

For everyone, do you ever have books you feel like you SHOULD read, but drag your feet about doing so? Whether they are classics, new books people rave about, books dealing with important subjects etc.

For me, Read Harder's book that you didn't finish or hated in school I'm dreading. I only had one book that I ever (remember) straight up not reading, and that was Heart of Darkness. I hated it, and I am not looking forward to revisiting. I get the point of the prompt, but doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it.

For specific books, it's The Hate U Give. Everyone I know who has read it has said it's amazing, but I also know it's going to be a really sad, depressing read. I have a lot of trouble with those, since a lot of my reading is escapism. I have it slotted as a past goodreads winner, but keep reading other books instead.

Welcome to the group, Sarah!

Susan, no problem! I like encouraging discussions :)

Glad everyone is enjoying the group and reading!

Yeah Kathy, I can see what you mean about Outlander. I read the first two, and while I didn't hate them, I thought they were way too long. I don't mind long books, but those FELT long while I was reading them. I'm also not crazy about time travel and just...all the implications of someone from the future living in the past long term just hurt my head. I'm not saying I'd never continue the series, but there's so many other books I want to read, I'm certainly not putting a priority on it.

Hi Everyone!

Had a pretty good reading week this week, although a lot of my finishes were short.

Britt-Marie Was Here - my book on sports. After my Beartown DNF i was a little concerned about reading another Backman sports novel. But I gave it a try since I loved My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry and Britt-Marie is from that book. I'm glad I gave it a shot, I really loved the book and the humor in it. Also I didn't love Britt-Marie as a character in the other book, but she was great in this. She really gets developed and treated with gentle humor and compassion. this also counts for my ATY book with a title that is a complete sentence and Read Harder's book with a female protagonist over 60.

Girl in the Blue Coat - ATY's Edgar Award winner (best YA mystery). I really enjoyed this, although it was pretty sad. Not really sure you can have a book set during WW2 and NOT be sad, though. I liked it because it didn't really draw lines as villains and heroes. It showed that people in a war are still complex. The same people can be both petty and heroic.

Practical Magic - book of a movie i've seen. This was just ok for me. I like the movie ok, but it's not one of my favorites, so I guess I shouldn't be shocked that I didn't love the book. For all that it was pretty short, it still felt like it took forever to get to the point. Also counting it for my ATY ghost story.

The Island of Dr. Moreau - My book mentioned in another book . Stretching this a bit, since The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter was a mash up, so characters from Dr Moreau were in it. I hadn't read this one, so fixed that now. I have hard time with older classics, the pacing and language style is just so different from what we expect now. Also counting it for Read Harder's classic of genre fiction.

The Lathe of Heaven - book that was made into a play or musical. I was reading about Ursula K Le Guin after her death and found an article that had mentioned this was adapted into a play a few years ago. I knew The Left Hand of Darkness had been, but I'd read that before. Was pleased to fit some of her work into the challenge that I had not read.

Currently reading:

Rich People Problems - I don't know if this'll fit into the challenges anywhere but it came up in my library holds after months of waiting so I'm reading it.

I know we do a lot of book recommendations around here. Has anyone been surprised by a recommendation? Either that you thought for sure you wouldn't like it but gave it a try, or that you expected to love it but it ended up not being your jam?

Most recently i can think of the Clean Room, Vol. 1: Immaculate Conception series. Friend recommended it because Gail Simone wrote it, and while her writing is excellent, I'm more dubious about really weird horror stuff. But I actually really loved the story, and even managed to appreciate the super creepy art.

A friend recommended Sandman Slim and that one ended up being a bit of a disappointment. It's urban fantasy, which I usually love. But I didn't particularly care for the main character. I still might continue the series later to see if it gets better, but I don't have high hopes.

Thanks Sarah! I suppose since it’s a library book I could always try it and just stop if I don’t like it. I’ll probably wait a bit anyhow, have other books lined up.

Hey I know at least someone here mentioned reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, is it a good book for being an audio book? or would it be kind of gross to listen to? My library has it digitally, but only in audio.

Hi everyone!

We're about to get hit with a ton of snow, would be a good weekend for never leaving the house and just reading constantly. However I'm going to instead run through Detroit in my underpants. Wish me luck!

This week I finished:

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter This was really good, I liked the victorian mash up part, and the idea of the various mad scientist daughters teaming up to fight their fathers. This was a book flood book, so it's my book that was a gift.

Timebound - book about time travel. This was ok. Time travel isn't really my favorite, it just gets too sloppy and confusing. This was no exception. However it didn't resolve enough of the plot for me to just walk away from so I'll probably end up reading the next book, sigh. =p I'll have to see if the library can get it in later this year.

Midnight at the Electric - I really loved this. It was like a dark chocolate truffle, bitter sweet but rich and just enough. It was my time of day in the title. The format was interesting, and i just loved the way the three story arcs wove together.

Eleanor & Park - I just finished up this at lunch, it's my book set in the decade I was born. It was just ok for me. I think it was well written, and I might have loved it as a teenager. It was just a little TOO relationship centric for me, with way too much teenage drama. I like there to be more plot, even in romances. Heck even my vampire smut books usually have some sort of overall story arc amongst them, beyond the immediate relationship.

Currently reading: Next up is Girl in the Blue Coat which will be my ATY Edgar Award winner. I don't think it fits into popsugar but I guess I'll see as I read. I suppose it could be favorite color, but purple is my actual favorite color. Just been having trouble figuring out what to read for it.

I am also about halfway through the audiobook for Britt-Marie Was Here which i'm really loving so far. It's my book about sports. I was a little nervous going in, after I DNFed Beartown. But I loved My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry and this one has a character from that as the main. I didn't particularly like her in that book, but in this one she's much more endearing. I also appreciate the perspective of a non-sports fan being surrounded by the sports obsessed. It'll also count for Read Harder's book with a female protagonist over 60.

So I know in the group there's a lot of different reading speeds. For some people, the reading challenges are all the books they'll be able to read in the year, maybe even more than they think they can read. Others will finish the challenge easily with lots of books to spare. How does everyone decide how to manage your TBR lists in relation to challenges? Do you warp challenge prompts until the books you want to read fit in? Skip ones you don't like in favor of reading books you DO want to read? Only do a reading every other year so you can alternate free reading vs challenge reading? For those who aren't doing a formal reading challenge, do you set other goals? For those who have no problem filling books in, do you rush through the challenge to have free time, or spread out books you want to read in between challenge books?

For me, I'm a pretty voracious reader. Finishing the number of books isn't a problem, it's more my attention span. So I like to finish the challenge as quick as I can, while I have momentum. Then I have the rest of the year to read what I want. I do a certain amount of whatever reading as books I had long term holds on come up, or I just need a break, but for the most part I like to march on through. That's also why I'm counting books across challenges, even though I'm sure i COULD read read an individual book for each one. I want to have time to read what I want to read on a whim, not just challenge reading.

Susan, I thought Artemis was pretty good. Hope you enjoy!

Lynette,

Yeah that's my biggest peeve about the app and the new mobile version of the site. They apparently think that if you are on your phone, you dont' want to tag your books. I had to force my phone to show the desktop version so I could tag them, last time I posted from the phone.

That and not allowing nested comment threads.

Me, I love Seanan McGuire/ Mira Grant :) I also am behind on her stuff, so I have so much of her stuff left to read, it's great.