Lexi’s Comments (group member since Jul 27, 2016)

Lexi’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Yay, Discworld

Melindam wrote: "Cat wrote: "Melindam wrote: "Well, the little picture next to the link in the newsletter does look like a miniature phallic symbol ... or just a tower?"

a phallic symbol????!!!! How very dare ... ..."

Unless the clue is stamps, the picture says Ankh-Morpork

I read the other day and I have owned the hardcover for multiple moves so I am glad that I got around to reading it. However, it was just very average for me. I find the tropes overdone especially the romance and the pinning for friend aspect was just annoying. I also did not find the world building as amazing as many people did. Oh well, put it outside at the LFL and it was gone within a few hours.

I also read , which is one of my oldest. It was an interesting idea but poorly executed. The ending was just standing around a lot and a big part of the MC interaction with her sister was just dropped.

I am only half way though where I should be for this time of year but making progress…

Grow Your Garden
Duration: March 1 - May 31, 2021
Level: Co-Op Chairman
🌷11/8

Rules
Option 1: Complete Tasks listed under each section
Option 2: Spell-out* specified words under each section
Option 3: Combination of Options 1 & 2

Tasks for Preparing garden

⁣Decide on garden size Pick only one of these tasks
Extra Small: Read a book 100 to 200 pages long
Small: Read a book 201 to 300 pages long
Medium: Read a book 301 to 400 pages long - Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption-3/1-336 pages
Large: Read a book 401 to 500 pages long
Extra Large: Read a book 501+ pages long

Pick Garden Type
Pick a flower , vegetable, or herb garden

Read a book with a flower, vegetable, or herb on cover or in title (based on the type of garden you want to grow).
- 3/31-***
Or
Spell out FLOWER, VEGETABLE, or HERB

Gather Tools
Find gardening gear and tools on cover or spell out at least one type of gear or tool.
Twine - - 5/18-***
Suggested Tools (but not limited too):
(view spoiler)

Tasks for Planting and Growing Garden
Read at least 3 books under this section of the challenge.

Pick Plants: Decide on the types or varieties of plants for your garden.
Tulips - -5/14-***
Other flowers - - 5/13-***
L - The Language of Ghosts - 3/22-***
I - In the Shadow of Spindrift House - 3/31-***
L - A: Lisa - Red Heir - 5/9-**
L - A: Leduc - Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space - 5/14-****
Y - A: Yamen - The Ardent Swarm - 4/7-****
Read a book with a type of flower, vegetable, or herb you want to grow in your garden. (repeat this task as many times as you want to add variety to your garden)
Spell out the type(s) of flower, vegetable or herb you want to grow in your garden.

Dig Holes & Plant: Dig the holes and plant all of your plants or seeds.
Read a book with dirt or a hole on the cover.
Spell out DIRT or HOLE.
Hole - - 5/17-***

Maintain and Grow Garden: Water, mulch, and weed your garden so it grows full and healthy.
Read a book with a watering can or garden hose on cover.
Spell out WATER.
Read a book with mulch on the cover.
Spell out MULCH.
Reed a book dandelions on the cover.
Spell out WEEDS.

Harvest Vegetables, Herbs, or Flowers Reap the rewards for your gardening efforts!
Read a book with picked (no longer attached to the plant) vegetables, herbs, or flowers on the cover.
Read a book with a basket or vase on the cover.
Spell out HARVEST.

Prepare Garden for Next Season Clean up the garden and have it ready for next year.
Read a book that takes place in winter.
Read a book with snow on the cover.
Spell out WINTERIZE.

BONUS SECTION: Decorate Your Garden
No requirements for this section, just for added fun!

Read books to decorate your garden with gnomes, suncatchers, fountains, statues, scarecrows, etc.
Bonus Tasks (can be repeated)
Read a book with an item for your garden on the cover or in the title.
Spell out the decorations you'd like to add to your garden.

Maybe neither since both groups will be reading

Sophie wrote: "You certainly aren't the only one! I'm expecting some of the other usual suspects to poke their heads in soon."

I'm surprised more of the usual suspects are not here yet.

Cat wrote: "Lexi: same. There was all the hype at the time about how young he was. frankly they should've waited till he'd read a bit more than LotRs before letting him loose with a publishing deal!

I've hear..."

I might have tried if it was shorter but I just don't feel he needs that many pages.

Jenn wrote: "I just finished last night and I have to say I was a little disappointed in it. It wasn't as magnificent as other people have said, filled with typical fantasy troupes and..."

I read it back when it came out so many years ago and it was so long winded and not original that I have never had any desire to read anything else by the author. That is saying something as that was an age for me when I would read anything with a dragon on the cover.

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Keli wrote: "I finished my 6th book, Sabriel, yesterday. It was quite enjoyable thanks to Tim Curry. I don't think I would've given it four stars without him."

I agree. He is so fant..."

Wait, I did not know he narrated books.

Keli, thank you, I will look into that

Sammy wrote: "Lexi wrote: "Today was a day of declaring DNFs. I have two physical copies, which I tend to be worse about stopping even if like these two, I got them free from a LFL. They are both going back outs..."

I hope you like it better than I did. Mine also did not have books on the cover. My version: . I still plan to read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek as I am told it has a stronger sense of place. Vague historical fiction is not my thing to be fair. I require a strong sense of time and place. Also, I am from the area so I am more likely to notice what is a generalization than someone who is not.

Today was a day of declaring DNFs. I have two physical copies, which I tend to be worse about stopping even if like these two, I got them free from a LFL. They are both going back outside tomorrow. Someone should be happy.
The Giver of Stars is not my kind of book. I wanted to read it for KY, but the setting is weak and everyone is very predictable.

Storm Runner (link not working) - problematic ableism, which is especially sad in a recent MG book.

I'm here late as it was my book but real life has just been difficult. I can do questions if one of the mods wants a break.

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

A historical YA novel that takes place during the Greenwood Massacre of 1921, in an area of Tulsa, OK, known as the Black Wall Street.

Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Wilson is, on the surface, a town troublemaker, but is hiding that he is an avid reader and secret poet, never leaving home without his journal. A passionate follower of WEB. Du Bois, he believes that black people should rise up to claim their place as equals.

Sixteen-year-old Angel Hill is a loner, mostly disregarded by her peers as a goody-goody. Her father is dying, and her family’s financial situation is in turmoil. Also, as a loyal follower of Booker T. Washington, she believes, through education and tolerance, that black people should rise slowly and without forced conflict.

Though they’ve attended the same schools, Isaiah never noticed Angel as anything but a dorky, Bible toting church girl. Then their English teacher offers them a job on her mobile library, a three-wheel, two-seater bike. Angel can’t turn down the money and Isaiah is soon eager to be in such close quarters with Angel every afternoon.

But life changes on May 31, 1921 when a vicious white mob storms the community of Greenwood, leaving the town destroyed and thousands of residents displaced. Only then, Isaiah, Angel, and their peers realize who their real enemies are.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

For readers of Tommy Orange, Yaa Gyasi, and Jhumpa Lahiri, an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise—to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies—and find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India.

Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely--an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the novel with warmth and hope and humor--has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear.

Taut, symphonic, propulsive, and riveting from its opening lines, A Burning has the force of an epic while being so masterfully compressed it can be read in a single sitting. Majumdar writes with dazzling assurance at a breakneck pace on complex themes that read here as the components of a thriller: class, fate, corruption, justice, and what it feels like to face profound obstacles and yet nurture big dreams in a country spinning toward extremism. An extraordinary debut.

Connie, I fixed it for you. Hope that helps

Got my last one read about an hour before mindight, so made my 2020 goal. On to a new year...

I read one other book that I had not logged so only one book to go. Considering how bad I did last year (<50%), I am impressed I will make it this year. I did average for books I read this year and it was a 3.2 versus a 3.4 overall so I am working on deleting more of my TBR.

I almost made it for two books per month until Nov and Dec. My second Nov book was chosen as my book club's Jan book, and I am still in line for the library copy of my second Dec book, but I should get it within 2 weeks.

I have only read 9 of the books this year but I enjoyed all but one of them so I am going to try for 12 again next year and just make a new post in this thread if that is easier. My favorite was The Raven Tower.