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

Sheri’s comments from the EPBOT Readers group.

In case anyone wants to check in with challenge progress!

Last week I read Warriors: Dawn of the Clans as the popsugar "book with a cat on the cover". I read Mila 2.0 as "book with a character's name in the title". I also read Mockingbird vol1: I Can Explain for the read harder "Superhero comic with a female hero". And I read "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur" up to current for read harder's "read an all ages comic".

Currently I am reading Kushiel's Dart for "a book longer than 800 pages". I also started "Hammered", book three of the Iron Druid series as "Book involving mythology", which I think is one of the advanced challenges for pop sugar.

How's everyone else doing?

Kitwc wrote: "Yay, I found the group! However, I can't edit the book list doc for some reason. It keeps telling me to get the Sheets app, which I already have. *sigh* Oh, Google, you so silly."
If there's something you really want to suggest, you could post it here and one of us can add it to the doc :) or if you want to just add a vote to one of the existing entries.

I'm copying Lyndall's post from the facebook page, so everyone can easily find the relevant information :)

#FoEbookclub
Proposal.
Hey All – here’s my short(ish) #FoEBookClub proposal.
I’ve had a lot of thinking to do to get here – so I hope it’s workable. I propose we try this round one and make changes next time if we need to. Harsh, grumpy stuff straight up – this is what I think I am able to do. If it doesn’t suit – please don’t participate or run your own thing – We can (and will) revise at the end of round one. If we find things NEED to change we’ll work on it - but otherwise – I’m a student and work and have an old high needs pet and a husband and I acknowledge I’ll never make everyone happy – but so be it.
Non- grumpy stuff:
We’ll use a google doc to list books and track suggestions. (link in comments)
There is a longer version of this post on one tab and a list to add suggestions for books on another.
Unless there is a super clear winner - we’ll use a google form to count votes. This will happen around about the 20th Jan (Note I’m on NZ time so I will be “in front” of you a lot of the time – but we’re a flexible bunch and I’ll keep things open / notify for 48 hours when things are approaching so we’re all in the loop ).
I’m not going to set up a new group – unless admin asks me to. I hope by using a hashtag, keeping threads on facebook to a minimum & sending the bulk of the conversation back to the good reads page we’ll manage things. (link to good reads also in comments) *fingers crossed*
Add as many books as you like to the doc, if you book is already there you can “add 1” to the column titled “plus one”. There’s a spot for links (up to two) plus a blurb – check out other books and add “plus one” to them.
Closer to the “voting date” (20th Jan for round one) we’ll either vote on the top 5 most popular and pick a book, or if there is a clear winner we’ll read it first. I’m proposing we’ll repeat this process with the next two rounds – adding books to the list throughout the year.
Please feel free to add columns to the sheet as/if you need to. The only thing I ask is please don’t remove other people’s suggestions – I’ll go in and de-dupe as needed every few days & try to make sure the math is adding up.
As per suggestions made in another post on the topic, ideally nothing over 600 pages and no books which are part of a series. Non-fiction, biographies and autobiographies are more than welcome. Books available from a library, which are also available as an audiobook would be great, too.
I’ve also added a trigger warning column where you can add anything that you’re aware of that might be a problem. If you’ve not read the book – you don’t have to add anything but if you know please do. You’re welcome to add triggers to other people’s suggestions if you know of any.
Dates:
ROUND ONE
Now – 20 Jan – select book(s) (Book 1)
20 Jan – 14 April – read
14 April - 30 April – discuss and pick next book
Ok. I think that’s it. Happy reading.

(the link to google doc is here : Book Club Voting Doc )

Stephanie wrote: "Wait, is there a separate Facebook group for the book club? Or did I just miss the post on the FOE page?"

It was just a couple posts on the FOE page, no separate group as of right now. I posted the link to voting for the first book in an earlier post, if you want to join :) It's going to just be something like 4 books a year I think, so nothing too time consuming. If you do a search in the FOE page for either Lyndall or book club you might be able to find it. Took me a few tries.

I like the challenges because it encourages me to broaden what I'm deciding to read. If I let myself I'd dig myself into a sci-fi/fantasy hole and never come out. Doing the challenges and joining other book groups and stuff encourages me to at least try to branch out.

Here's the voting link :) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/... if the book you want is already on the page, update the existing number up by one. If you're the first person adding the book, add a 1 in the column. Think everything else is pretty self explanatory.

Shel wrote: "Cool! Do we have a list of what we're reading when set up yet?"

I believe Lyndall made a google list for voting that she shared in the facebook group. Voting goes until the 20th, and then I (or she can) add the book being read to this group :)

This is the folder for discussions about the books we are reading for the Fans of Epbot book club! Welcome to the club!

Anyone doing this challenge? Here's a text list of it, for those who prefer to keep digital records rather than printing. For people who don't want such a large list, you could always do the 12 advanced challenges by themselves. There's nothing different about them, aside from being extra for those who want a larger challenge to finish.

1. A book recommended by a librarian
2. A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long
3. A book of letters
4. An audiobook
5. A book by a person of color
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title
7. A book that is a story within a story
8. A book with multiple authors
9. An espionage thriller
10. A book with a cat on the cover
11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym
12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read
13. A book by or about a person who has a disability
14. A book involving travel
15. A book with a subtitle
16. A book that's published in 2017
17. A book involving a mythical creature
18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile
19. A book about food
20. A book with career advice
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective
22. A steampunk novel
23. A book with a red spine
24. A book seet in the wilderness
25. A book you loved as a child
26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited
27. A book with a title that's a character's name
28. A novel set during wartime
29. A book with an unreliable narrator
30. A book with pictures
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you
32. A book about an interesting woman
33. A book set in two different time periods
34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel
36. A book written by someone you admire
37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven't read before
40. A book you bought on a trip


Advanced Challenge

1. A book recommended by an author you love
2. A bestseller from 2016
3. A book with a family member term in the title
4. A book that takes place over a character's life span
5. A book about an immigrant or refugee
6. A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of
7. A book with an eccentric character
8. A book that's more than 800 pages
9. A book you got from a used book sale
10. A book that's been mentioned in another book
11. A book about a difficult topic
12. A book based on mythology

Actually I might try to do Read harder, AND popsugar's. But I'll count books for both if applicable.

I looked it up, I will give it a try. Although first one, reading a book about sports is already making me grumble =p

What is it? I did a reading challenge in 2015

Shel wrote: "I have Sandman Slim on my kindle but haven't read it yet..."
I read the first one, it was alright. A friend recommended it to me, so I might continue when I'm in a lull.

Has anyone checked out the comic Monstress? I just read the first issue, it's beautiful! If people like Art Deco/Steampunk you'd probably like the art, if nothing else. The story is good too, but it's very grim and dark. It's about the aftermath of war, and how people survive when they're the demonized losers. It's set in a fantastical setting though, with magic and creatures and such. I like it so far.

I haven't heard of it, but I went ahead and added it to my library's digital request list. Looks good!

Kat wrote: "Denise wrote: "I love the Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey! It is fantasy however, it is definitely more mature (very violent, has sexual content and a lot of cussing)"

I *adore* Sandman Slim..."

Do they pick up as they go along? I read the first one and had a hard time getting into it. Didn't super relate to the main guy, and I have trouble getting into books if I don't like the protagonist.

Kim wrote: "I hope it goes international. I can't believe that it won't, but I am dying to see it. Even before I got the book!"

From what I've seen in the news, they're in talks to bring it to America, possibly New York. Once it's in New York, I figure it'll eventually get a touring company. I also wouldn't be surprised if they eventually do a film release. Maybe not a full movie, but at least a really nice recording of the stage play.

Melyssa wrote: "Several twists & turns with Sophie and Agatha's character development and sometimes I wasn't sure what I thought of the message being delivered."

Yeah, I think that's what bothered me about it. I couldn't quite pin down what the author was going for. It kind of felt like it was trying to break the "good is pretty, evil is ugly" trope, but it got lost when Agatha suddenly got beautiful when she just learned to smile and that Sophie literally grew warts and lost hair when she acted truly evil. And then when the sides flipped and all the good students got ugly and the evil ones got pretty. I did like that she chose friendship over a traditional "happy ending" with the prince. But then the description for book two seems to imply that she regretted her decision and wants to go back for the prince. Still enjoyable enough to read though, I think I'll finish the series.

Anybody else read that? Just finished the first one and have a lot of mixed feelings! I enjoyed reading it overall, but am wondering what other people think.

I haven't read it but I saw the play. I really loved it! Also really liked the idea of Harry and Dracos sons being best friends. Also thought Draco got more redemption than the original series gave him. Ps the case for the show is amazing and really brought the characters to life in a new way!