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

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

Mary wrote: "I read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood."

I don't know why, but every time I try to type that title, it comes out "The Handmaid's Tail." Which would be a very different story. Or maybe not.

Geez, lots of pandemic lit for me this year! I really enjoyed Station Eleven despite having some issues with it.

Stina wrote: "Of course, it doesn't need to be one of the old classic CYOA books. There are many modern takes on the form, some decidedly not for the kiddies. ..."

I did read The Cave of Time and even remembered a few of the scenes from whenever I read it back in the '80s. This was an amusing little trip through time in more ways than one.

Oops, I had The Traitor Baru Cormorant down for this one, but it turns out I didn't add it to my Goodreads shelves until January of 2017. Soooo.....There's always Hotel Pastis: A Novel of Provence for the triple-dip, of course. Or not. Though I've had the book since 2009, it apparently took me almost 10 years to add it to Goodreads.

Aha! I added Every Heart a Doorway to my wish list in 2016! Good book. Way darker than I thought it was going to be, but still quite funny in some ways. Definitely thought-provoking.

Huh. I'd forgotten that I'd set actual criteria for myself on this one. I went back through my list, though, and the only one that counts is Hotel Pastis: A Novel of Provence, which I used for the book set in a hotel. I mean, I'm allowing double-dipping, so it'll count if it has to, but let's hope it doesn't come to that.

After discovering that children's mystery author Page Carter lived down the street from me when I was a child, I decided to track down some of her books. I found Mystery at Ding-Dong Gulch on Open Library. It's kinda like the Trixie Belden books, but weirder.

One of my friends brought Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood to the GenreLand meeting and did a read-along. Cute book!

Here's where I slotted Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy. It's set at a summer camp, so summer sports abound. Graphic novels are difficult for me to read, but I've read two of these volumes now and they're pretty fun.

I didn't find the one I was thinking of, but Daughters of the Lake worked. It was an interesting concept with inconsistent execution.

It's not really about the summer activities, but there are many references to soccer and the family barbecues are unusually important in The Bookshop of Yesterdays.

Mystery at Ding-Dong Gulch would also have worked for this, but I used it for a different task. The Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy series also would work well.

I read Caturday and rolled up a wild cat cartographer character for an adventure with some friends. It was a lot of fun!

I tried the foodie manga genre and read Oishinbo a la carte, Volume 1 - Japanese Cuisine. Very interesting and at the same time very annoying.

Mary wrote: "I read "Madame de Villeneuve's The Story of the Beauty and the Beast: The Original Classic French Fairytale". It is very much a product of its time and place, France in 1740. I enjoyed it, and like..."

I thought I had downloaded a French copy already, but now I can't find it. Guess I'll have to hunt it down again. I got interested in it after reading Uprooted, but I suspect I am going to have issues with it.

Stina wrote: "I've been meaning to read Hotel Pastis: A Novel of Provence for a long time."

I read it. I thought it kinda sucked.

Stina wrote: "I'll let you decide what you think is scary. For me, it's spiders. Especially uplifted spiders. So I'll be finishing Children of Time."

I did manage to finish it. And I even liked it. The next book in the series features octopuses. Gotta nope out on that one.

Cheryl wrote: "Finished this one with Born a Crime by Trevor Noah."

He did a great job with that!

I listened to Year of Yes and was surprised at how much I related to her, considering I never thought any of her shows sounded interesting.

So, this is one I missed when I was finalizing the list in January. Add it or don't, as you please, to your own version of the challenge. At this late date, I won't be revising the official challenge post.

I read The Only Harmless Great Thing, which features elephants. It's...not kind to the elephants, so proceed with caution if you are a fan of elephants. Good book, though, worthy of its nominations. And at least one win, I believe?

Soooo many options here. I know I have a Poirot on the TBR for this year, but I read so many mysteries that it's hard to say which one I'll end up counting for this prompt.

I've been intrigued by The Tea Shop ever since I met Bernadette Marie last year. But I will probably read Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time -- as well as Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way -- first.

If I double-dip, Hotel Pastis: A Novel of Provence should work for this. But I'll be very surprised if I need to do that.