Stina’s Comments (group member since Dec 11, 2016)

Stina’s comments from the Challenges from Exploding Steamboats group.

I ended up going with Little Women since it is solidly based on the author's youth.

Mary wrote: "I have read "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman and thereby completed the His Dark Materials trilogy."

Awesome! I have read the first two but have not even started The Amber Spyglass yet.

Mary wrote: "I'll put "A Tale for the Time Being" by Ruth Ozeki here. It is two stories intertwined, the main one being that of a teenage girl. Her story/diary is being read by a woman in Canada, but most of th..."

What did you think of it? I started it but got distracted by something else and haven't picked it back up yet.

I did end up counting Pachinko for this prompt, I believe. That's the nice thing about audiobooks; they keep going even when you're bored silly.

Laura wrote: "I finished The Day Lincoln Was Shot. Non-fiction that goes hour-by-hour from when Lincoln woke the morning of his assassination to when silver dollars were placed on his eyes. Very well written. I ..."

I went a very different direction on the "day of" theme: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.

I read Clover, which answers a question from All the Birds in the Sky. Short but meaningful.

I went with a historical romance, Tempest. The editing could have been better, but it was a fun take on the mail-order bride trope.

I read Family Secrets. Pretty cool concept, even if it was really unrealistic. It will be interesting to see where this series goes.

I read A Dash of Trouble. Very imaginative, but I didn't connect well with the protagonist. I think 12-year-old me would've been sorely tempted to smack her.

I read The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. I enjoyed it, but dang, it was super clear that the author did not know much at all about Iowa or even the U.S. in general. What was really strange, though, was how the protagonist occasionally behaved like no Swede I've ever encountered.

I read The Stepford Wives. It's even creepier now that I'm an adult.

I was wondering about that. I saw the preview and thought, "When did Agatha Christie write Wicker Man?"

It turns out I did complete this task last year! Catherine E. Kovach has outed herself as the author of Tender Wings of Desire. I presume the terms of her contract permit her to do that. I'm still not sure what, if anything, I as a Goodreads Librarian can or should do about the author data for that book, but I do know that I am converting this prompt to a bonus for this reading challenge.

Mary wrote: "OK, it turns out, I share a birthday with James Joyce, and he liked to do things on his birthday. His "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" was serialized in a newspaper, and the start date for that was 2 February 1914. Would this count?..."

Sure, I'd count that.

There are various sources online for screenplays. I belong to some sites that have screenplay libraries, but sometimes I just google what I'm looking for and find it available somewhere without a member login. I loved Knives Out last year! Maybe I'll read Brick this year.

I could double-dip with Pachinko, but it's a common enough thing that I'm sure I won't have to. Any favorites you'd like to recommend?

I'll have to go through my shelves and see what I have already. What are your plans?

If "Men in Black, but with fairies" sounds appealing to you, I highly recommend Borderline. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to read this year. I think I'll just see what turns up.

The term can be interpreted broadly, including nonfiction. I personally have a hard time with the format, but I thought Relish: My Life in the Kitchen was great. This year I'm planning on reading Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening.

Essequibo River is on my shelf, and I'm sure I have others. What's your "river" read this year?

I don't have anything in mind for this one yet. Any suggestions?