Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
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2017 Weekly checkins
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Week 9: 2/24 - 3/2
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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is my favorite Dr Seuss as an adult reading to my kids, but as a kid my favorite (according to my mother) was Hop On Pop. Of course, Green Eggs and Ham is always a close runner-up as favorite, and The Grinch gets pulled out at xmastime, and so on... but (shhhh, don't tell anyone) I never liked The Cat in the Hat. He freaked me out.
This week I finished one book for the Challenge:
The Circle by Dave Eggers, for "being made into a movie in 2017" and I REALLY did not like this book.
I also finished two other non-challenge books that I will mention because they were both excellent in their own way:
Night by Elie Wiesel
American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus by Lisa Wade
QOTW I have no idea! I haven't had enough coffee yet to figure that one out! If I come up with something on my drive in to work, I'll post again.
Nadine wrote: "(shhhh, don't tell anyone) I never liked The Cat in the Hat. He freaked me out..."I think I liked The Cat in the Hat ok as a kid, but I never realized how LONG that book was until I read it to my daughter. AND then she wanted to read The Cat in the Hat Comes Back which is even worse!
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish is a fun one :)
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Hey from Nova Scotia! We're a bit overcast but definitely unseasonably warm. My dad is coming to stay with us for a couple weeks flying in tonight and I am excited to have a babysitter for a bit :) I didn't do a lot of reading this week but I did finish the Underground Railroad and got a fair start on hidden figures.
QOTW there are definitely a few books where I've thought a character was unnecessary but I can't think of any right now. I'll come back if I think of any!
My weather here in Pittsburgh is similar to Nadine's. Warm. Then cold. Then warm. Then freezing. I only finished one book Everything, Everything. It should have only taken me an afternoon to read it due to the format (emails, IM's, short chapters) but it was a busy week for me. It's crunch time for my wedding (only 58 days away! AHH).
I read maybe like five pages of The Girls of No Return my wilderness book but then I realized that prompt is a group read later in the year! So I stopped.
I'm currently reading my espionage thriller. Although, I'm sure if I was being more strict with the challenge prompts I don't think my book exactly counts. The main character is more of a con artist than a spy. Anyways, the book is Trust Me, I'm Lying. I'm really enjoying it. So after I finish that I'm going to go on to Down to the Liar the novella, and finish with Trust Me, I'm Trouble. That will finish off this series and help me reach my goal of reading/finishing 5 series this year. (So far I only have one series completed this year).
With everything going on I'm happy to see that we are on week 9 and I have 10 prompts done. Ahead of schedule! Woo! So far I haven't ventured into the advanced list. My requested list from the library has my book recommended by a librarian, book on TBR too long, audio book, and story with in a story. I hope they all don't come in at once!!!
QOTW I honestly have no idea!
Hello from snowy South Bend, IN! Normally that wouldn't be such a surprise, but we've been spoiled this winter with the unseasonably warm temperatures. Today, however, I actually had to clear the windshield on my car. Did I mention that we have had temps in the 60's (F) recently?The weatherman last night said that we had three times as much snow come down yesterday than we had in all of February. An odd winter indeed.
For the challenge! I finished Devil in a Blue Dress for Book With a Main Character Who's a Different Ethnicity Than You. Liked it quite a bit, and may consider going on to the other books in this series.
Finished my audiobook of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal for Book You've Read That Never Fails To Make You Smile. 5 stars, of course.
So that puts me at 11/52.
On deck is Hidden Figures for the March Challenge. About 50 pages in, and it reads like a textbook (not that that's a bad thing. Just not what I expected).
Also on deck is the audiobook for The Outsiders for Book You Loved as a Child.
QOTW: Not sure how to answer that. Not a book, but I did see something that if Indiana Jones was not involved in Raiders of the Lost Ark at all, that the story would have remained the same. Credit the Big Bang Theory for that.
Hello all! I finished 3 books this week, 2 for this challenge, bringing me to 11/40.I read Tuesdays at the Castle and Wednesdays in the Tower, the first two books in the Castle Glower series, to fulfill the "first book in a series you haven't read before" and "book with a month or day of the week in the title" prompts. I'd intended to uses Tuesdays as my month/day book, but it was so charming that I shifted prompts so I could read the next one, too! I didn't enjoy the second as much as the first, but still a very cute series I'd recommend to fans of middle-grade fiction.
I read Throne of Jade, the second book in the Temeraire series, for Around the Year's "book with an animal on the cover or in the title" prompt. It wasn't as much fun as the first book in the series, but it was a much deeper read, I think - it really expands the world and sets up the rest of the series beautifully. Now at 11/52 for this challenge!
I'm currently reading 4 books: One Night Only: Conversations with the NHL's One-Game Wonders (for Modern Mrs. Darcy's "book about a hobby or topic that interests you"); No Fond Return of Love (for Popsugar's "book by an author from a country you've never been to"); Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (for Popsugar's group read of "book about an interesting woman); and Oreo (for Around the Year's "book by a person of color" - also because my library's department did a book swap and we're trading reads - otherwise, I would have DNF'd it by now).
QOTW: I keep wanting to say main characters whose deletion would negate the existence of books I hated, but instead I'll go with Mae Crawford, the POV character from The Demon's Covenant. I really loved this series on the whole, but the character's several good qualities were vastly outweighed by the blithe entitlement she displays throughout the series, and which is never treated as a bad or even particularly problematic thing. Grrrrrrr.
Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to finish one book this week, and that was Code Name Verity for "espionage thriller". I literally finished this last night.
This puts me at 11/52.
I'm still working on Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend for "a book from a nonhuman perspective".
QOTW: I'm not sure if I would get rid of any book characters. All the ones I know of give the story something that no one else could.
Good afternoon from Denmark!The weather? It's raining... From the optimistic point of view: it's not snowing :-D
I finished 4 books for Popsugar in the last week (1 of them for the advanced list):
A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long - Little Women ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A book with pictures - The Hobbit (illustrated) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The first book in a series you haven't read before - In a Dry Season ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (It's the first book, that has been translated into Danish...)
A book about a difficult topic - Så er Thomas væk (Now Thomas is gone)
So now I am at 18/40 and 3/12.
QOTW: if it would really change the story of a book, I would probably choose someone from a book, that I really didn't like just to make it better, haha...
Bonjour from Montréal. Today is cold. Yesterday felt like 50°F and today like 0°F. I don't think I ever read anything by Dr Seuss. It was not something popular here. I have seen the movie The Lorax though.
Last week I finished 2 books and I am now at 10/40.
House of Suns for unreliable narrator. I loved it.
Everything, Everything for a book becoming a movie this year. It was a quick and fun read, but not my favorite. I felt like I would have love this book have I been 20 years younger. And it didn't help that after 20 pages I guessed the plot twist.
Now I am reading a book just for me. The second half of Fool's Quest.
QOTW: It's a tough one this week. I may come back with an answer later.
The weather here is great, a pleasant 68 later but currently 55 and bluebonnets are blooming way early in Austin. It's been up and down temperature wise but never too cold. Yay. I like the Lorax, I speak for the trees!
I finished The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony for a book based on mythology, Hillbilly Elegy for a book that was a bestseller in 2016 which was ok but certainly not worth the long wait from the library. I also finished a reread of Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell for a book the never fails to make you smile because I really enjoy her dry wit but there wasn't that much to make you smile on the reread. But she does wring smiles out of serious stuff - maybe that's the magic. Not to spoil but if you have it - read the first paragraph on page 80. I was just sort of stunned. I had to sit there for a few minutes and blink for awhile. 19th century surgery- i'll stop complaining about stupid stuff and be grateful for living now - not then.
I started The World of Herodotus for book recommended by a librarian and The Hidden Life of Trees for book with a non-human perspective.
QOTW
I would get rid of Hitler in Norman Mailer's Lore of the Forest. Because then it wouldn't exist. I hated that book.
My count is 20/52
I forgot to add a reminder that the poll for April's read closes tomorrow! So if you are interested in voting please head to the group's poll page:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
I only finished one fantastic book this week: The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. It was sooo good! It's the second book in the Broken Earth trilogy (and you need to start with the first one, The Fifth Season, which was also fantastic). It has been nominated for the Nebula Award and I hope it wins!Just started reading both A Study in Charlotte and The Case Against Sugar.
Dr. Seuss: How to choose! My favorites growing up were Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose, On Beyond Zebra, Scrambled Eggs Super and To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. When I started to read his books to my kids, I fell for Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!, which may appeal more to adults. Sometimes we still say "The time had come, so Marvin went" as we leave the house. :) But I enjoyed reading all of them!
Question of the Week: That's a toughie! I can't name a specific character, but Reading Lolita in Tehran had tons of characters that the author talked about and I couldn't keep them straight. It would have been a better book if she had focused it a little more.
Checking in from Cleveland - it dropped over 30 degrees last night and now we have snow on the ground!My favorite Dr. Seuss book was The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss's Wacky Book of Opposites. My mom says before I could even talk, I would run over to my bookshelf and hold up my own foot when I wanted her to read it to me! (It's also strange because in my mind I so distinctly recall it as being orange, when it's actually green. This still really bothers me for some reason.)
I finished The Count of Monte Cristo this week (and may have stayed up late a few nights to do so). I really, really enjoyed it and, while the length was intimidating, the story never dragged. My husband has now convinced me to watch the anime based on the book with him - he's seen it before and really loved it. I'm curious to see how it adapts the book! I don't really watch anime, but lots of people online seem to agree this is a very good one.
QOTW: I think I'd remove Tom Bombadil from The Fellowship of the Ring. While I have come to appreciate his...quirks, I know he turns a lot of people of the books and they miss the rest of the series because of that. The Lord of the Rings are my favorite books, and I feel like that would be an easy change to make to help more people love them!
Allie wrote: "Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to finish one book this week, and that was [book:Code Name Verity..."
We're in the same metro!
I am about 60% through Edge of Eternity to conclude the Century Trilogy. I’m enjoying it although I’m moving more slowly through this one than the last two books in this series. At a combined nearly 3000 pages, I’m feeling a little burned out on Follett. I hadn’t initially planned on reading them all in a row, but here we are. I should finish EoE it over the weekend and be able to put long books behind me for a while. This week I took a very short break from the long book to listen to the audible version of a very short book: The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice for a book about a difficult subject. The author is a peace advocate who happens to be the son of one of the plotters of the original World Trade Center bombing. Although short – at just over 2 hours listening time – it was still quite powerful to hear how he came to the conclusion that nonviolence is the only way to solve conflict. He could have easily turned out a terrorist himself. Ironically, I wish it had been a little longer and more developed; it left me wanting to know more of his journey. I’m now at 13/40 and 1/12.
QOTW: There are many characters I disliked strongly but I can’t think of any that I’d want to have removed from a story. A well-drawn unlikeable character often makes the story. I’ll have to mull this one over!
Good afternoon from England! Huge Suess fanatic here, so difficult to choose favourites. I love reading Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? and Hop On Popto my children. I taught myself to read at age 4 with Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!. As an adult my favourites include The Sneetches and Other Stories, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! andOn Beyond Zebra! One of my favourite quotes is from Oh the Thinks You Can Think: "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!This week I finished two challenge books:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for an author with a pseudonym
Dubliners for an audio book (I enjoyed it on audio, I have never been able to get very far with James Joyce reading it on my own.
QOTW: I can't think of a character I would remove. There are many that irritated me or I found detrimental to the story, but they were still key to the story.
Miriam wrote: "As an adult my favourites include Oh, the Thinks You Can Think...one of my favourite quotes is from Oh the Thinks You Can Think: "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"That's my daughter's second favorite (and high on my list). Just this morning she asked me if she could have "schlop, schlop beautiful schlop, beautiful schlop with a cherry on top" for breakfast :)
I'm in the Kansas City area too! I've been sick for almost two weeks now :( and I'm sure the weather is part of it. The swings in temperature are wild!In the past week, I've finished a few things, but not much for Popsugar:
- Not Your Sidekick for Bookriot...if someone can fit this into Popsugar, it's worth it, because it was a completely new reading experience for me
- Nimona for Bookriot (love!)
- Lazarus, Vol. 1: Family for Bookriot (also love)
- The Gunslinger for book becoming a movie this year...definitely going to read more of this series!
I'm currently working on:
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for book in genre I've never heard of
- In a Sunburned Country for Bookriot
- The Maltese Falcon for book mentioned in another book
- The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire for a book about an interesting woman
I'm at 12/40 and 1/12 right now, but that should go up by next week.
I loved Dr. Seuss as a kid. My favorite was the Foot Book!
QOTW: I don't really think about books that week. I think characters I dislike are generally important to the story, or if they aren't, the overall book has bigger problems.
Also, I launched a book blog in the past couple of weeks! I'm keeping my recaps there, and writing some more general posts. My last one was about how reading challenges like this one improve my reading life! I would love if you would check it out: http://www.bookmarkedbooks.com/four-w...
QOTW I guess when I think of it lots of characters are removed for movies so with some retooling it can often work. I personally love tom bombadil and was disappointed that they cut him but he's an example of a character who was deleted with little affect. Another who I loved but whose input was simply replaced with another character was Winky in Harry Potter. Also Peeves. In My Sisters Keeper they removed the guardian ad litem. It happens often. So if the question is removal with no change other than that character being gone then I can't think of anyone who isn't an incidental character, but if the story can be rewritten to fill the gaps then there are lots of possibilities.
I can never remember what I already updated about and what I didn't lol. I finished America's First Daughter. I loved it. It started off slowly, but the rest of it more than made up for that. I used it for my family member title. I started Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. It's a little hard to follow at times. I feel like it's a little jumpy, but I'll still finish it. It's my interesting women pick. I'm still slogging through Skipping Christmas for my red cover. I'm almost done. I finished Orange Is the New Black for my audiobook. I can't remember if I mentioned that. I really enjoyed it for the most part. It's a really interesting story and way different from the TV show, which I appreciated.QOTW is really hard! My favorite series is Harry Potter, but I wouldn't want to lose any of the characters. I hated Umbridge, but she still had an important role. Maybe Lavendar. I hated her role throughout the series.
Good evening from Italy. Here it's a warm and sunny day, a little windy maybe, but it almost looks like spring. Temperature is going to plummet after sunset, but I bet that right now lots of people are walking down the beach :)I'm late with a couple of updates, I was sick and not really in the mood for reading. Still... I've read "Prince Lestat and the Realm of Atlantis" two weeks ago for the "book from a nonhuman perspective" prompt and I really loved it. I've start reading the Chronicles when I was in highschool and with every new book of the series is like catching up with old friends.
This week I've read "True Letters from a Fictional Character", my "book of letters" and maybe it's not perfect for the prompt, but right now I don't have the money for new books and the library doesn't have anything interesting that could fit.
Then I've read "E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core", the "book with a title that's a character's name". This series is really cute and funny.
And this morning I've finished Gaiman's "Norse Mythology", my "book involving a mithical creature".
So I'm at 19/40.
QOTW: Uhm... I would really like to get rid of Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter series; It's so cliche and boring that she is the one who Harry ends up marrying and I think that her role in the Chamber of Secrets could be taken as well by any other Weasley, really.
Today I am in Ann Arbor on the campus of the University of Michigan. I really love Ann Arbor. I lived in this area for several years and it always feels so familiar and comfortable. I see a sliver of blue sky and sun, which for Michigan's gray winters is a wonderful thing. Last week I read In a Dark, Dark Wood for one of my book clubs. I am slotting it as "an unreliable narrator" as for much of the book, the narrator has lost her memory after an accident. I just started reading Too Much Happiness for my second book club. It's a collection of short stories. I don't know if it will fit a prompt.
This brings me to 9/40 and 1/12.
My mom hates Dr. Seuss so I didn't really read them much as a child. My brother was a Seuss fan and has all of the books from our childhood. My mom hates all the nonsense words, which makes me think Dr. Seuss may not be popular in non-English speaking countries due to the impossibility of translating the nonsense words into rhyming with other nonsense words. I do like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.
Question of the week:
The character I think of is Umbridge from the later Potter books but just because I hated her so much. I think they needed her for the plot advancement but I didn't particularly need her. ;-)
Mike wrote: "Not a book, but I did see something that if Indiana Jones was not involved in Raiders of the Lost Ark at all, that the story would have remained the same. Credit the Big Bang Theory for that..."Ha ha... That episode is soooo funny and you realise that Amy is absolutely right...
Juanita wrote: "My mom hates all the nonsense words, which makes me think Dr. Seuss may not be popular in non-English speaking countries due to the impossibility of translating the nonsense words into rhyming with other nonsense words..."And this is why I didn't choose that question for the official question of the week :) I imagine Dr. Seuss is extremely difficult to translate! Aside from the nonsense words (of which there are many), so many of his books rely heavily on rhyming. I know that poems can be translated, but for instance how to you translate a tongue twister (like Fox in Socks) that requires words to be similar in order to twist said tongue?
:) Hope all is well in Ann Arbor!
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Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to finish one book this week, and that was [book:Co..."
Oh my gosh! Are you on the Kansas or Missouri side?
This was a very slow week for me. I only read one book The Cuckoo's Calling I had so much to do so I actually dont know where the week went. Today I started reading Norse Mythology and I have been waiting for this book to be available and really looking forward to it. It is starting of well, so hopefully it will continue. I have always had quite and interest in Norse mythology (Being from Denmark ;-) so this was a no brainer to ad to my list when I heard about it. But sometimes you get your expectations to a book set too high. I hope I havent done that and I will end up being disappointed.
QOTW: Hmmm... Cant think of the book right now, but know I have at least one... Ill be back!
Hi Everyone - Southwest Michigan has snow :) Everyone seems a little surprised after our mild winter, but its not that odd for a typical early March in this area.
My favorite Dr. Seuss is Horton Hears a Who!
I finished one book The Shack. It fulfilled #37 A book becoming a movie in 2017 for me. It could also be used for #14 A book involving travel. #24 A book set in the wilderness.
QQTW: Mr William Collins in Pride and Prejudice could leave. This would save both Jane and Elizabeth from his odd behavior, and I've always felt bad for poor Charlotte Lucas that had to marry him!
Sara wrote: "Juanita wrote: "My mom hates all the nonsense words, which makes me think Dr. Seuss may not be popular in non-English speaking countries due to the impossibility of translating the nonsense words i..."In Denmark we have our own Danish author who have written these sort of books and the are still very popular. When you wrote Dr. Seuss I was trying to remember if my mom ever read any of those and came up blank but then remembered Halfdan Rasmussen who has written some very funny tongue twisting rhymes. I still actually remember quite a lot of them. hi hi... But you would not be able to translate them in to other languages either.
Allie wrote: "Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to finish one book this week, and th..."
Kansas side! I live near Lawrence but work in OP.
Good afternoon from a chilly Vermont. Today is a cool 20 degrees (yesterday was 60!) I have many favorite Dr. Seuss quotes but my favorite is "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not!"I have been on a roll this week and finished 5 books!!
-The Austere Academy for a book that never fails to make you smile
-The Ersatz Elevator for a book you loved as a child
-Eight Hundred Grapes for a book about food
-The Book of Summer for a story within a story
-Secrets in Summer for a book published in 2017
I am currently reading Grotesque for an author from a country youve never visited.
QOTW: I guess I've never thought of getting rid of a character from a book before. Something I'll have to think about!
Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to finish one book thi..."
Hi fellow KC folks! I'm in Lawrence!
Hi all! Morning from a rainy Vancouver....had the wipers on for the entire commute :)I am at 12/40.
I am about half way through my "book with a red spine! That's Don't Look Down I've had a rough week -- so I think I needed a bit of FLUFF!
And waiting for me at the library (finally, finally, finally) is Born a Crime. I am seriously looking forward to this one, and I've been on the hold list for a long time.
Thinking this will be the one for, book with a character from a different ethnicity than you.
Dr. Seuss! I should read some more of them...because I love them. Maybe I'll read that for the "a book you read that always makes you laugh!"
Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to fini..."
So exciting! We live between Lawrence and Baldwin.
I don't know what the weather in Michigan wants to do. First it'll be in the 40s for a week and snow begins to melt, but next week it'll be in the 20s and a ton of snow falls.Heartless for A Bestseller from 2016. I ended up finishing up the book by reading along to the last two hours of it on audio.
QotW Hmmm, good question.
Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to fini..."
Oh my gosh, small world! :)
Hello from Chicago! Yesterday it rained all day until about 4...when it started snowing. It's dry today (and no accumulation) but still nippy. My favorite Seuss book was The Sneetches but I haven't read it since I was kid; maybe it's time to find a copy.
I finished up Terrifying Tales a collection of Edgar Allen Poe's stories (excellent) and made some solid progress on Les Mis.
Would I remove a character from a book if I could? Nah probably not. Every one of my most hated characters is probably somebody else's favorite (or is integral to the story) and some of my favorite's are probably someone else's must-delete's. I'm for leaving well enough alone.
Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Brenna wrote: "Allie wrote: "Hello from Kansas City! The weather keeps going from warm 60's to cool 40's so my sinuses are acting up big time :(I only managed to finish one book thi..."
That's awesome! I'm on the Kansas side too :)
Laura wrote: "Mr William Collins in Pride and Prejudice could leave. This would save both Jane and Elizabeth from his odd behavior, and I've always felt bad for poor Charlotte Lucas that had to marry him..."As much as I dislike Mr. Collins I think he is a fun character to dislike :) I do, however think we could dispose of Caroline Bingley. Like Letizia pointed out (above regarding Ginny Weasley), I think the few critical plot points she is involved in could easily be absorbed by other characters or were unnecessary. Lizzy didn't need Caroline as competition for Mr. Darcy since she wasn't interested in him for the longest time anyway. And Mr. Darcy was more involved in separating Mr. Bingley and Jane than Caroline was. I say toss her out! :)
I'm at 5/40 and 5/12I just finished one book for this week:
1. A book recommended by an author you love- Sabriel/Garth Nix (recommended by Brandon Sanderson) 3/2/17
I'm about halfway done with:
6. A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of The House at Riverton/Kate Morton (Historical Mystery)
I'm doing better with the advanced tasks than I am with the regular challenge.
QOTW: I don't think I would remove any character from any book.
I loved all of the Dr. Seuss books! I didn't have any when I was little bitty, but once I started school I read and reread the Dr. Seuss books! We are having a Dr. Seuss program today at the library and one of our Friends is dressing up as the Cat-in-the-Hat and reading Green Eggs and Ham. I made some green eggs and ham snacks for the kids to eat after the finish their Cat-in-the-Hat masks! Fun day!
This week has been pretty decent for me, reading-wise. I am 17/40 right now. I read The Measure of Katie Calloway (wonderful historical romance, a little bit inspirational but not too much) and I'll use it for my book set in the wilderness. Had to move Little house in the Big Woods to the prompt "book you loved as a child" so I could use the Katie Calloway book. I also listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for my audioboook. I read the graphic novel Ghosts and was thinking about using it for my book containing pictures. It was so short, though, and I'm also reading the book Book Scavenger right now, so I'll wait and add Book Scavenger for that prompt. Hope to finish it in a couple of days.
I just got the two sequels to The Measure of Katie Calloway and I'm reading those next. I think I may be able to use them for prompts these prompts: "A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you" and "A book about an interesting woman". I had planned on using a non-fiction book for the "interesting woman" prompt, but we'll see. I may pencil the fiction book in, then replace it if I read something more suitable.
I cannot think of anything for the QOTW, but I will post if I come up with something!
Happy Reading, Everyone!
Laura wrote: "Hi Everyone - Southwest Michigan has snow :) Everyone seems a little surprised after our mild winter, but its not that odd for a typical early March in this area.
My favorite [author:Dr. Seuss|..."
I wouldn't get rid of Mr Collins, just redirect in him Mary's way. Those two would have been perfect together!
The last two weeks only the first paragraph of my comment is posting and I don't catch it until later. Very frustrating! This time I'm c&p the post just in case haha. The weather in Ohio has been all over the place. And I've been pretty busy so this week was pretty slow. Since last weeks books didn't post, I'll include two weeks worth of reads.
I finished The Neverending Story. The movie was a childhood favorite, I started the books so many times as a teen but never managed to finish until now. It was my story within a story pick.
Welcome to Night Vale was my multiple authors pick. It really interesting and weird, and a bit sadder than the podcast usually is. I hope they put out more novels!
An Honorable Man was a pick for an espionage thriller. I don't think I'd ever read a book in this genre before, it was well written and engaging. I did guess who the double agent was pretty early in the book though. I did enjoy that the protagonist was named George Mueller, I invisioned Michael Shannon the whole time so that was fun haha.
Cloud and Wallfish also kind of fits into the espionage thriller category. It's an audiobook my 10 year old daughter picked out so we listened to it in the car. It was a cute story, and presents historical events in a way that will keep a kid interested.
Life of Pi was my pick for a cat on the cover. I really loved the movie so I'm glad I finally got around to reading the book. I really loved how beautifully it talked about finding love and belonging in all religions, and that's coming from an atheist. But at one point when I was dealing with a stomach bug I had to take a break from the book because the descriptions of what he had to eat was just too vividly depicted for my recovering stomach.
Right now I'm slowly slowly slowly making my way through The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and The Cuckoo's Calling. Hopefully I'll finish them this week haha.
So that brings me to:
11/40; 1/12
Sacramento is currently glorious, and not too warm, so snowshoeing in the Sierras this weekend is going to be just perfection.This week I finished Winterdance by Gary Paulsen for my book involving travel. It's a nonfiction work about running the Iditarod, and I cannot recommend it more. I literally laughed aloud and cried, and that is not common for me when reading alone. I also started All the Light we Cannot See for a character with a disability or set during wartime (keeping my options open) and made good progress on In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (author from a country I haven't visited).
QOTW: I'm aware that this is a super unpopular opinion, but I would remove the adult main character from Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Oh, how I loathed him. (I agree with Tom Bombadil, too. Some characters have the most ... irksome jollity.)
Greetings from Yorkshire! This week has been cold but sunny and dry which is one of my favourite kinds of weather.I have a confession. I have never read a Dr Seuss book. I know, I know, scandalous! I honestly don't remember ever seeing them around when I was a kid. Maybe they weren't a big thing in the UK until recently? I do love the film of The Lorax though so maybe I should read that to my nephew one day.
This week I have finally managed to finish my audio book The Sphinx Without a Secret. I was my first ever (and probably last) audio book. It is just not for me. The actually story started off great. It was building up to some great Sherlock Holmes level mystery but then that ending! (view spoiler) What a disappointment!
My second book was for the family member in title. I read The Snow-walker's Son. In a word - dull. I know it was just the start of a larger series and was only really setting the stage but even the supposedly tense or exciting scenes didn't grab me. I think because I wasn't invested in any of the characters so I didn't care what happened to them one way or another.
Currently reading Heartless. There is so much about baking in this book that I think I am moving it to the food prompt!
QOTW: I would remove Konstantin Levin from Anna Karenina and then all of his tedious subplot would disappear and we'd be left with just the actual story about Anna (which to me is the interesting bit!)
Hello from cloudy Seattle! We have had a very cold (and oddly sunny) winter so far. Still not much rain, but it has warmed up into the 40's and the clouds are in full force.This week I was still reeling from my completion of the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. It's one of those books you can't just pick something else up right after! I will probably slowly re-read through the series, as I admit I hastily skimmed some heavy dialogue to get to some big reveals.
I realized I hadn't read anything for Popsugar for check-in last night, so I picked up Saga, Vol. 1 for "a book from a genre you don't normally read". Mainly because it was the shortest book on my list! This came recommended by my (now ex) boyfriend, and I loved it! I have read graphic novels before, but I'm still much more of a traditional novel reader. I can't wait to pick up the next one from the library.
I am also working through the Pottermore Presents releases. So far I've finished Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies which was amazing. A lot of back story on McGonagall and Lupin.
QOTW: Oh man, I have no idea! I'll have to put some thought into this one.
The weather here in AZ is finally sunny and 72 degrees, after a ton of rain (which is really unusual for us this time of year, typically we don't see any rain at all in winter). This week I finished two books: 1984 for an author who uses a pseudonym (just found out recently Orwell's real name was Eric Arthur Blair!), and Letters to a Young Muslim, for a book that was published in 2017. 1984 has been on my TBR list for many, many years, but I've never been the biggest fan of Orwell's writing style, so I've picked it up and put it down a lot without actually finishing it. Glad I finally read it though. Letters to a Young Muslim I found fascinating and absolutely loved.
So that brought me up to 21/52.
Yesterday I also started The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as the first book in a series I've never read. I also just got a bunch of library holds in, including Norse Mythology, which I'm super excited to read. :)
QOTW: Not sure! I'll have to think about it and come back to this one.
The wind in Connecticut today is on the scale of I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down. It woke my daughters up at 5 am and they were scared. It hasn't let up since. Driving on the highway felt treacherous. I'm glad to finally be cozied up inside.Dr Suess!! My personal favorites:
and
.My hubs favorite:
My girls read the most:
Currently working on filling out these:
I have about 8 books going and I can't get into any of them. I don't think I'm going to be finishing any challenges this year. Finished Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands for my audiobook, startedDance with the Enemy for my espionage novel,halfway through Cathedral of the Wild: An African Journey Home for a book set in the wilderness, started 11/22/63 weeks ago but haven't picked it up in awhile (for advanced >800 pages), and need to crack open The Elegance of the Hedgehog( advanced,mentioned in another book) before I have to return it to the library.
QOTW- I don't think I could take any character out of a book. Nothing is coming to mind, although i'm sure there are a few I disliked.
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Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
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Today is the 113th birthday of a beloved children’s book author – Dr. Seuss! I have spent many hours reading his books both as a child myself and with my daughter. We each have our favorite books – hers is Green Eggs and Ham. Mine is most definitely Fox in Socks (and yes, I can keep up with the tongue twisters!). What’s your favorite book or quote from Dr. Seuss?
On to our regularly scheduled check-in. I know many of you enjoy the global weather check-in so….how’s the weather in your area? It’s cooler today, but we are still seeing unseasonably warm temperatures here in Virginia. I’m not convinced that winter is done with us yet, but I am not looking forward to summer (except flip flops…I’m ok with flip flops).
I have not finished any books in the last week. I am switching between two long, but very good books: The Arabian Nights (aka One Thousand and One Nights) and The Count of Monte Cristo.
Holding steady at 11/40 and 4/12 (15/52)
Question of the week: If you could remove a character from a book, who would you remove and why? Keep in mind getting rid of a character could change the story completely.
I will have to give this some thought and come back with my answer later :)
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!