Jen’s Comments (group member since Dec 28, 2017)

Jen’s comments from the 2018 Reading Challenge! group.

Are there any rules for how close a book needs to be set to where we live? Or, same state okay? Because I read Hounded by Kevin Hearne and it's set mostly in Tempe, Arizona, which is just over 100 miles from me (I live in northern Tucson, Arizona; "Tempe" is 104 miles away and parts of southern Tempe are even within 100 miles of me!).


I finished this book on April 9th.

For this task, I read a middle-grade book that can count. :-)

Home Sweet Motel by Chris Grabenstein (illustrated by Brooke Allen) was a fun contemporary story about two kids, and Gloria on the cover is Hispanic, I believe, and a "child of color." :-)

I read Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi today. :-)

It works for this task because Marjane is Iranian while I am a white American.


Finished May 24, 2018. Four stars. :-)

I read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood on my Kindle and also listened to it on audio, performed by Claire Danes. Sadly, I did not much enjoy this story. I had several problems with it and they made it a chore to read. I gave it just two stars. :-(

For this task, I read Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews, who is arguably my MOST favorite author of Urban Fantasy stories. :-)

And I wish I knew why I waited so long to read this book and series. I LOVED it! :-)

I read Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer--America's Deadliest Serial Murderer by Ann Rule (audio performed by Barbara Caruso). This is biographical in that it is about the Green River Killer. I finished it on March 25th. Sadly, I would NOT recommend it to fell newbies to the true crime genre. It was good, but. . .

I read Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl, which is +60% yellow according to TinEye Labs. :-)

I read The Sunken by S.C. Green for this task. It is 520 pages long (with the story ending on page 505). Sadly, I did not enjoy this book. It was a major slog to get through and nearly all of the female characters were treated horribly. (With just two exceptions, as I recall.) :-(

And the author is herself a woman! :-(

For this one, I read You by Caroline Kepnes (audio performed by Santino Fontana). The main protagonist is the bad guy. :-)

For this one, I read Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores by Jen Campbell. My name is Jen, too. :-)

Since my "Jen" is short for Jennifer, I also read Cold Burn of Magic by Jennifer Estep. :-)

I haven't been updating my books read. :-( But I've read a few that can count! Just the other day, on May 22nd, I read The Seafarer's Kiss by Julia Ember. This story is a retelling of The Little Mermaid fairy tale. :-)

I am going to use Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings for this task, because only 45% of the ratings are four stars or more. And the vitriol in the one- and two-star ratings is off the charts!

I read this book, and I thought it was excellent! I didn't notice any problems with the world-building or the characters. I liked Androma, our main MC, and I didn't have anything bad to say about the other POV characters we heard from. All of the POVs in this book helped to build this book. I just don't see how it's possible that I read the same book as all of those negative reviewers. :-(

I gave Zenith 4.5 stars, but 4 stars for Goodreads.

For this task, I read Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde, who is on the B part of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. :-)


I read this book February 12, 2018. :-)

For this task, I will count The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, which first entered the world on January 2, 2018. I finished it February 13, 2018. :-)

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne will work for this task. This was the first story of Sally Thorne's that I'd ever read. I don't think I'd even heard of her before hearing about this book.


I finished this book on February 15, 2018. :-)

I think I will count The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (audio performed by Christian Coulson) for this task. It wasn't what we'd think of as a true "road" trip, since much of it was done via ship and sea, but they were always on the surface of Earth, so I'm calling their trip from England to Spain and back a Road Trip! :-)


I finished this book on January 13, 2018. :-)

For this task, I read Robots vs. Fairies, which is an anthology of robot and fairy stories edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe.



I finished this book on February 26, 2018.

Yesterday I finished The Face of Fear by Brian Coffey/Dean Koontz. Since this book is a mystery-thriller, I'll count it for this task. :-)


As said, I finished this book February 27, 2018.

According to her website, Alessandra Torre (aka A.R. Torre) is now 33. The Girl in 6E was originally published in 2013, which means she was under 30 when she wrote/published it. :-)


I read this book February 15-17, 2018. :-)

I am going to count A Shiver of Light by Laurell K. Hamilton for this task. Eyeing it, the cover is nearly all orange, so even though Tin Eye Labs labels some of the "orange" colors as Yellow, I'm calling this cover mostly-orange!



I finished this book on January 28, 2018. :-)