Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
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2017 Weekly checkins
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Week 10: 3/3 - 3/9
It is raining like crazy in Oregon- not particularly unusual but still it can get a little gloomy looking at the forecast. We did have a freak morning snow on Monday which cancelled school but we don't, as far as I know, run out of things from the grocery store. This week I finished The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection for a book set around a holiday other than Christmas. I am doing a lot of rearranging in hopes to fill at least one more spot for books I read during Lent (because most of them won't fit but I plan to make up for it during summer).
I need to take another peak at the prompts for the group reads. I want to participate but I seem to be filling those up with books I already have....oh well.
QOTW: This might be a little lame but I found a 10 cent coupon for Barnes and Nobles with the dated expiration July 1, 1938. It is probably the oldest thing I even own. I can't get rid of it or throw it away. It seems like such a strange piece of history that I keep in a little wooden box hidden away. I do love finding old dedications in books. I try to imagine who the people are and how the book came to me- like the book itself has its own story.
I did a lot of traveling in these last few days so I finished a couple of book and will probably be able to add another one before the week is out.Finished: Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Justice. I found a topic on the reading challenge for each.
Currently reading: The Marriage Plot and plan on using it as a book involving travel.
Next on the list is: The Hike, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Born a Crime.
QOTW: I can't say that I remember finding anything strange in a book.
Today was a gorgeous day here in NYC with temperatures in the mid-60s, so naturally we've got a winter weather advisory overnight with a threat of snow and freezing temperatures.For the challenge, I finished reading A Study in Silks over the weekend and have it in for my first book in a series I've never read before. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading the second for my steampunk novel and the third for a book I bought at a used book sale. I was also informed that the author wrote three short stories, which she released as a single kindle ebook, so I bought that and have finished the first story, which takes place before the first book.
I started Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond, which I'm going to use as a book with career advice, although it's not really a fit. I absolutely detest books that claim to help me with anything and don't read them on principle, but I figured a book teaching me something relevant to my field is helpful enough. I haven't read much of this one yet, but I think it's going to prove to be a very interesting read, as it traces Cholera's roots and looks to the future of disease pandemics. I was torn about this or one of several others but chose this in the end after getting a job interview for a position working in the public health sector of emergency management. I'm going to focus on this one primarily this weekend.
Most of my other reads are not for the challenge and are just books I need to finish, or short story collections or whatnot. I've got 8 books going at the same time right now, so I'm going to try to put some effort into finishing half of these, at a minimum, before I start anything else.
QOTW: My boyfriend and I buy a lot of books used, so we sometimes find receipts, plane tickets, concert/movie/musical/play ticket stubs, etc. in them. The most interesting was when we found a photograph in a book he bought.
I finished The World of Herodotus for a book recommended by a librarian and The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate for a book from a non- human perspective.I started The Late George Apley and I am having twinges of Deja Vu so I might have already read this- but if I did ,it was a long time ago. So I'm at 22/52.
I took All The Light You Cannot See off my list after reading the above comments. I was afraid it might be one of those hyped up ones that disappoint.
QOTW: I have found tickets- both train and theater, and I also found a birthday check my Mom gave me much later and a bill I had misplaced. I have since taken to using actual bookmarks or something otherwise destined for the trash to mark my place to try to make my life a little less complicated.
Tara wrote: "No finishes this week, I'm struggling with hidden figures. Loved the movie but I feel like I'm reading a mildly interesting history textbook.QOTW nothing really; receipts, maybe the odd plane or ..."
Tara, I just started listening to Yes Please on audio and its funny!! I haven't read Tina Fey yet, but I definitely like this one better than The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo.
Hey, Everyone! I had a good week. I finished four books this week. I finished Book Scavenger by Jennifer Bertman on Friday. It's a juvenile book that has won several awards. The ones in our library system haven't been checked out that much, which is sad for such a great book, but it does have over 300 pages, which might be discouraging for kids. I enjoyed the kick out of it and I'm using it for my book with pictures.
Saturday I read Under the Blackberry Moon by Serena Miller. It is the second book in a series of historical Christian romances. I read the first book, The Measure of Katie Calloway earlier this year and used that book for my book with a title that is a characters name. I used Under the Blackberry Moon for my book with a character that is a different ethnicity than you (Native American).
On Sunday I read the third a book in the same series, A Promise to Love by Serena Miller. I think I'll use that one for my book about an interesting woman, unless I find another place for it. I had hoped to use it for my book set in the wilderness but it isn't a good fit. I really enjoyed this series, or trilogy, so much and I'm going to loose for other books my Serena Miller.
On Monday, I finished a book I'd begun earlier-Gifted Hands by Ben Carson. We have a lot of older kids check out for book reports. It was pretty good, and I'm using it for my book written by a person I admire.
Well, y'all, on Monday I also started Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. And I wasn't nearly as entertained as I had hoped to be. I had hoped that, as I got further into the book, I would have a change of heart. I made it past the halfway mark last night, and I pretty much hate it now. I can't remember ever giving up on a book after putting this much into it, but I honestly don't think I'll be able to finish it. I'm going to just step away from it for a while, and see if I want to try again later. Has anyone else struggled with this one?
Anyway, I'm going to start Justice Delayed by Patricia Bradley later tonight. It looks like a good read and it has a red spine!
QOTW: The strangest thing I've ever found in a book was cigarette ashes. I found that in a library book. The book didn't smell smokey or anything, so it took me a while to figure out what it was.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Mod
..."
I wasn't crazy about that book either. I think either you love it or you don't, and if you aren't loving it now, that's not going to change if you keep reading.
I only finished one book this week. Who Moved My Cheese?. I used it for a book with career advice. QQTW: I haven't found anything overly interesting in books.
I finished two books this week: 48. Book 800+ pages: Edge of Eternity – I didn’t like this one as much as the first two books in the series; it wasn’t bad per se but I am nonetheless glad to have it behind me.
26. Book by an author from a country you’ve never visited (Australia): Holding the Man – I loved this memoir. Best book I've read so far this year. I stumbled upon the movie version a few months ago. (It’s currently on Netflix and I would very much recommend both.) It was funny and moving and tragic. I had a good old ugly cry finishing it and I know it will stay with me for a while.
That brings me to 14/40 and 2/12. I’ve got something selected for all but three challenge items and I’m looking forward to just about all of them on my list. One that I’m unsure about, career advice, is on deck as soon as the one I’ve planned to read is available from the library. I’m currently first in the hold queue. If I hate it, at least it will be behind me early in the year. I also intentionally read through the Century Trilogy early to get several long books out of the way. My work schedule is lighter in Q1. That combined with the cold and early sunsets of winter make it easier to find extra time to read. As I get busier and the weather gets nicer, I’ll have less time and could get bogged down by lengthy reads. I do have two more long books slated for this year so I’ll probably come back to them in the fall when I’ll have more time again.
QOTW: I can’t think of anything unusual that I’ve found in a book. Like some others, I’ll find library receipts. It’s always interesting to see when a book I’m reading was last checked out.
Hello all from sunny NYC - well at least until tomorrow when we 'might' get a flake or two. I've never experienced any shortages here - maybe the worst is there have occasionally been storms so bad that take out delivery has not been available!I had a really good week - finished 3 challenge reads!
A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls, an anthology of YA historical fiction short stories with a teen girl protagonist, by Jessica Spotswood et al. - read as my book with multiple authors. I really enjoyed these, reading a couple a day in between finishing other challenge books. Each author was commissioned by Spotswood to write a story for the anthology. Diversity rules, with some very serious subjects addressed. I highly recommend it for both boys and girls as well as fans of historical fiction. It will also fit the book with a subtitle category.
Palm Trees in the Snow by Luz Gabas, translated from Spanish 'Palmeras en la Nieve' - LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! Read as my book by an author from a country I have never visited, but fits a bunch of other categories - 2 time periods, main character is a different ethnicity (one of main characters is Guinean, others are Spanish), about an immigrant or refugee, difficult topic (racism under Spanish colonialism), even story within a story. It's about the Spaniards from the Pyranees region of Spain who contracted to work on the cocoa plantations of Fernando Po n/k/a Bioko, part of Equatorial Guina, Africa. Most of the story takes place on the island during either 1940 through 1971 and then 2003/4. It is the love story of a man for a woman and a man for a country. It is a novel but based in fact and historical research - author's family history includes workers who went to the island to work, who witnessed the political and historical events that drive the story. I highly recommend it.
Peacock & Vine: On William Morris and Mariano Fortuny - absolute jewel of a book. Read as my book with pictures. Author A.S. Byatt has long loved the works of William Morris. On a trip to Venice, she begins research into Mariano Fortuny, an artisan and designer of textiles and more who was born a generation after Morris. The result was that she made many connections between the work of these two men, thus leading to the essays in this lovely little book, which has beautiful photographs of just about every key piece she discusses, as well as the homes, studios and wives of each man. Book fits subtitle category as well.
That brings me to 14/40.
I've started 2 more: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life as my book with career advice (it's a stretch given I'm a lawyer LOL) and A Spear of Summer Grass as my book with a season in the title.
I've gotten a couple of intense categories out of the way - I don't read a lot of non-fiction, even though I have a lot in my library. There are so many I'm dying to read, that I have slotted them into categories just so I will. Among those challenge books I've identifed are Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race and The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story which I loved and am very happy to have checked off! I still have quite a few but my goal is to spread them out. I read a lot, almost all fiction of one kind or another, half of my reading is non-challenge. I just try to keep a balance. For example, I'm reading Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time' on the side too...I've read parts in the past but have decided I want to read the whole thing from beginning to end. When I need a break from Proust, I read challenge books. When I need a break from challenge, I read Proust or a cozy mystery or contemporary fiction.
Drawing my ramble to a close...
QOTW - It's not really a strange find, but rather wonderful *I* think... back in the dark ages - the mid 1970's - I was doing research (in an actual academic library) for my senior thesis on George Sand and her political involvement and writings in the French Revolution of 1848. One of the books I pulled off the shelves deep down in the stacks of Butler Library (Columbia University) had not been taken out of the library since the 1930's, as evidenced by the pocket in the front flap with the old-fashioned check out card with signatures and dates on it. The most recent date on the card was 1936 I think, and the book had not even had the then contemporary scanner checkout mechanism installed in the book! FYI - I kept that old check out card - still have it. The staff would just have tossed it out when I check it out when they installed the scanner system. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. I sometimes wonder if anyone has taken it out since I did.
Wow, I had a great week reading wise. I finished 5 books for Popsugar (26/52, halfway done!), plus one additional one. One of the 5 was a long term audiobook that I just finished on my commute home today.Smaller and Smaller Circles for prompt 26, from a country I've never visited. This was a pretty typical crime novel with a forensic anthropologist who is also a Jesuit. It was fine, and the novel (to me) setting of the Phillipines added some interest.
Garden Spells for prompt 19, a book about food. I found this charming, with a full cast of interesting characters and well-paced. If you like magical realism, check it out!
A Man Called Ove, which I used for prompt 10 (cat on the cover) although it could fit in other places as well. (It takes place in Sweden I believe, and the main character is definitely eccentric.) I enjoyed this a lot, although at first I was just irritated with how much of a curmudgeon Ove is. He got better!
Caraval, which I think I'll just use for a book published in 2017 (prompt 16). I didn't love this, it didn't seem to have much respect for the readers' intelligence. There were some nice descriptions though.
A Gentleman in Moscow, for prompt 35, set in a hotel. This was a long-term audiobook (almost 18 hours long), listened to in ~20 minute chunks on commutes mostly. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I had read it on paper, but I loved the performance of the narrator too. I said somewhere else in the forums that I don't think I've ever found a book with so little plot so interesting before! (Although there was a bit more plot in the last 20% or so.)
Finally, for the Read Harder challenge, I finally finished a book of very weird short stories by a woman, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories. Some of the stories were great, others left me wondering what the heck just happened. I read a good portion of them out loud to my husband, which is partly why it took me so long to finish the book (Feb 6-Mar 5).
QOTW: I can't remember finding anything interesting or weird in a book - too bad, that would be a good story.
It was a gorgeous day in Northern Colorado today! Which probably bodes ill for the global climate, but days like today make it difficult to complain too loudly.I finished two books this week, so am getting back on track. I'm one book behind on my annual reading goal, so I will try extra hard to finish something tomorrow. I'm getting close to finishing Giants' Bread, so probably that one.
The Steampunk Tarot could possibly fill several different slots:
- A book with career advice
- A book involving a mythical creature
- A book with pictures
- A book you bought on a trip
- A book based on mythology
I haven't reviewed it yet, but I plan to give it 5 stars. It's very interesting even if you have no interest in divination.
Planetfall also fulfills multiple prompts:
- A book with one of the four seasons in the title (admittedly, a bit of a cheat)
- A book with an unreliable narrator
- A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you (though the distinctions are murky -- she is the daughter of a Brit and a Ghanan but describes her ethnicity as simply "European")
- A book with an eccentric character
I am hoping to avoid double-dipping for this challenge, so to the extent possible, I am leaving books open to shifting around to other prompts as needed. I'd say that the prompt I'm most relieved to have completed already is probably "A book with an unreliable narrator," as very often I don't know until I've finished the book if the narrator was reliable or not.
QotW: Probably the most common things I find in books are receipts, ticket stubs, and boarding passes. The most interesting thing I've ever found was a 4-leaf clover that my grandmother pressed into a bible I inherited from her. Though today, in an odd turn of events, I found several pages ripped from a pocket bible (Gospel of Luke, if memory serves) inserted in a book I was shelving. I don't remember the title, but it was a novel, either mystery or science fiction, that didn't appear biblical in any sense.
Chinook wrote: "I only finished one book this week - Everfair. I highly recommend it. It's a steampunk set in the Belgian Congo and if you like diversity in your reading, this one has tons. It woul..."Ah, Everfair was on the voting list for a book club tonight, and I voted for it, but it didn't win. I think I will probably end up reading it on my own anyway.
Chinook wrote: "I've been pondering the prompts question and come to the conclusion that no, I'm not really glad to get any over with or saving any for later - part of this is that I'm doing the hallenge by the se..."For the Denver prompt, have you considered Kitty and the Midnight Hour or The Nymphos of Rocky Flats? Or A Fall in Denver? (I'm not sure how your tastes run, but I liked all three.) This is for the 100-mile-radius prompt, right? I'm trying to think what else falls into that area. Is Chaffee County close enough? Beth Groundwater writes a mystery series set there. Maggie Sefton has a knitting-oriented series set in a faux Fort Collins, but I wasn't terribly impressed with it.
This week I only finished one book because I just got a new job and we are in the process of moving!!!I finished The Kitchen House and I am using it for the prompt a character that is a different ethnicity than you.
I am currently reading: Grotesque for an author from a country you've never visited, Saving Grace for an audiobook, and The Perfect Stranger (not sure if this one will fulfill a prompt).
QOTW: I have never found anything overly exciting in my library books besides bookmarks and library receipts, but whenever I do find something, I always try to think imagine who the person was who read the book before me.
Nadine wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hello there everyone from a surprisingly sunny spring day over here. This week I've finished three books. Fist of all, Heartless. I can't think about this book witho..."
Thanks Nadine. I'm glad I'm not alone! Its something that's really starting to irritate me because it is so common. Hopefully my next retelling will not disappoint
This week I finished the "book involving travel" with Etta and Otto and Russell and James this book also would work for "set in two different time periods" as it flips between present day and WWII with all the same characters.
QOTW: I had a book from my grandmother's house after she died. While flipping through it (it was a cookbook) I found $100 bill in it. My grandmother was a child of the depression and apparently often squirreled away money in books and other things around the house rather than trusting banks.
I haven't posted in awhile, so here are a few weeks progress in the challenge. I'm at 12/40, and have been knocking back "easy" prompts from my TBR pile but have a couple of prompts ahead of me that are going to take more effort. Steampunk and mythical creatures aren't really my thing, but I'm open to trying them for the fun of the challenge! Thanks for the suggestions! Read:
Mansfield Park - on my TBR pile for too long. I hadn't read this Austen and was happy I finally got to it. It was great to read Austen again, I haven't since high school.
Anne of Green Gables- audiobook. I listened to Rachel McAdams read this while on a long car trip. I missed this book in childhood and enjoyed it, although I'm not sure how much of the series I will continue to read at this point. I think I missed the time in my life where I would have loved it. I would recommend this audio version if you are inclined. Rachel McAdams does a very perky Canadian read, really brought life to it.
The Thirteenth Tale- story within a story. I was entertained by this book, spooky and it fit the prompt well.
Currently reading:
And the Mountains Echoed - Author from a country I have never visited. Hosseni is a wonderful storyteller.
I'm saving "a book published in 2017" for later because I really want to read Allie Brosh's Solutions and Other Problems for this once it comes out. I'm also saving some of the easier prompts for later, like "a book that's been on your TBR list for way too long" and "a book recommended by a librarian".I'm glad that my >800 page book is out of the way! The best thing is that I really enjoyed what I read – The Lord of the Rings.
This week, I finally finished Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded for a book of letters, The Canterbury Tales for a book involving a mythical creature, since it mentioned several Greek gods, and The Screwtape Letters for a book with a red spine. Screwtape is one of my favourite books and it once again gave me lots to think about.
I'm currently reading 23 Great Stories, a short storg anthology, for a book with multiple authors.
I used to put little slips of paper saying things like "smile – you're even more beautiful when you do!" inside library books. I think I first picked up the idea from a similar piece of paper I found inside a book myself. That was several years ago, but perhaps I should start doing it again.
Chrissy wrote: "Wow, I had a great week reading wise. I finished 5 books for Popsugar (26/52, halfway done!), plus one additional one. One of the 5 was a long term audiobook that I just finished on my commute home..."I had never heard of Garden Spells until I got it as a gift for Christmas. Are there any other categories it might fit into since I've already read a book for the food prompt?
Good morning from snowy Boston! I had hoped we were done with winter weather here but I should have known better. At least it's good for cozy nights of reading.Completed this week: A Conjuring of Light, a book published in 2017 and Norse Mythology, a book involving a mythical creature. I also read If I Was Your Girl but that was for the Book Riot challenge (a YA book by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+).
Currently reading: The Westing Game, a book you loved as a kid; Paradise Lost, a book you bought on a trip (thank you, $1 shelf at a North Shore antique shop); and Born a Crime on audio, which is for the separate Listy Reading Challenge.
QOTW: I haven't found anything of note in a book that I can recall, but I do mostly buy used or borrow from the library so I'm sure something will come up at some point!
Good morning from NC where the weather can't make up it's mind. It's been in the 70s but we might have snow on Sunday. I fear for the strawberry & peach crops. Anyway onto books. I realize I have completed 7 books. This week I finished "Arsenic & Old Books" by Miranda James, for a book with the cat on a cover. Who can't love Diesel? I also finished "The Blessing Way" by Tony Hillerman as the 1st book in a series you haven't read before. Currently I'm rereading "Good Omens" by Pratchett & Gaiman a book that never fails to make you smile. The prompt I am having problems with is "a bestseller from a genre you don't normally read." I read a little bit of everything, so this is stumping me. Anyone know any best selling Westerns?
I work in a public library, so I have found lots of strange things in books. The saddest are when people use pictures or holiday cards with pictures and we can never get them back to the person they belong to, it breaks my heart to see our orphaned picture section. Don't get me started on the people who use money as bookmarks. Tip from a library person please do not use anything you might not want back as bookmarks. Index cards are good cheap bookmarks, the subscription cards that fall out of magazines make surprisingly good bookmarks.
I work in a public library, so I have found lots of strange things in books. The saddest are when people use pictures or holiday cards with pictures and we can never get them back to the person they belong to, it breaks my heart to see our orphaned picture section. Don't get me started on the people who use money as bookmarks. Tip from a library person please do not use anything you might not want back as bookmarks. Index cards are good cheap bookmarks, the subscription cards that fall out of magazines make surprisingly good bookmarks.
Marci wrote: "Good morning from NC where the weather can't make up it's mind. It's been in the 70s but we might have snow on Sunday. I fear for the strawberry & peach crops. Anyway onto books. I realize I have c..."Lonesome Dove?? That was the one I was going to use, since Western was really the only genre I could come up with that I don't ever dabble in.
Sara wrote: "Tytti wrote: "I don't even know what would constitute "bad weather". Extreme storms, maybe?"
The fear here is with snowstorms and being snowed in for a while. It's rare for us to get enough snow a..."
I know I'm in NC and we're fretting about Sunday. Of course now it may shift to SC. I have extra books & junk food just in case.
The fear here is with snowstorms and being snowed in for a while. It's rare for us to get enough snow a..."
I know I'm in NC and we're fretting about Sunday. Of course now it may shift to SC. I have extra books & junk food just in case.
Hello everyone!Winter's still kicking around here in Michigan. Big blustering wind that's sent a lot of people without power. Luckily my neighborhood was ok, we just had some flickers and one brief outage of under a minute. More annoying than anything because I work from home, and every power flicker made my surge protector squeal and the wifi give out for a few minutes as it reset.
I'm reading my prompts pretty haphazardly, based on what comes up at the library/what I feel like reading and where it happens to fit/what I have on hand. I've ended up doing a lot of extra reading because i just felt like reading something and it didn't end up fitting.
This week I finished Wool Omnibus which after a lot of hemming and hawing I counted for my "first book in a series you've never read". Which kind of throws off some other plans, since I also read Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd. I was going to re-arrange my list and put the Warriors book under book from nonhuman perspective, and the Ancillary Justice as my first book of a new series. However Wool was really slow going, and it annoyed me it wouldn't count for anything. So I'd rather the cat book be my extra, because it was an easy fun read.
I'm currently reading We Were Liars which is the group read for April, even though I never end up participating on the chats. I was having trouble thinking of something for the unreliable narrator prompt. Part of the problem with that prompt, in my mind, is a lot of times the fact that a narrator is unreliable is part of the plot twist. So going into a book knowing the narrator is lying or at least not necessarily showing is kind of a spoiler. Also kind of hard to decide if the narrator really IS unreliable until it is over. I kind of am seeing why this one would count, even though I'm not to far in.
This puts me at 17/52 for the combined challenges.
QOTW: I think i've found weird bits in some library books before. Once was a photo. I think I just let the librarian know when I turned it back in, just in case anyone ever called trying to find it. Usually it ends up being stuff like old library receipts or whatever that were being used as bookmarks and forgotten. Nothing too crazy on my end.
Stina wrote: "Chinook wrote: "I've been pondering the prompts question and come to the conclusion that no, I'm not really glad to get any over with or saving any for later - part of this is that I'm doing the ha..."Thanks! The Kitty book is on Overdrive, so that may be it.
Megan wrote: "I had never heard of Garden Spells until I got it as a gift for Christmas. Are there any other categories it might fit into since I've already read a book for the food prompt?"It's been several years since I read Garden Spells so I'm not fresh on all the details, but you could make the case that it has an eccentric character. The main character is "different" than the rest of the town and sort of treated as such. Kinda like they give her a wide berth with a healthy dose of side-eye.
You could also use it for the first book in a series. There's a followup called First Frost.
I just added it to my to-read-list. I was looking for an idea for the food prompt.
Hello all. Popping in for a short check-in post.Last week I didn't finish a book. I spent most of the week reading Too Much Happiness, which has nothing to do with happiness and is utterly depressing IMO. This was my IRL book club pick and no one liked it. I am 70% and leaning towards DNF which is rare for me when I go this far.
I also downloaded and have been listening to the Audible.com version of Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen and read by the author. I'm really enjoying it and it's a looooooooooooooooooooong one. I think it's 17 hours but not sure. I'm 20% in and since I'm only listening to it for about 20 minutes a day, it'll be a long while until I'm finished.
I think I am going to move on to Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, The Sun Is Also a Star and Boys in the Trees: A Memoir for my next selections.
Answer of the week:
One of my cousins always used money as book marks when I was younger. Not sure if she still does as she's in Chicago and I'm in Michigan. I haven't found anything that I can recall but I do have a tendency of using any piece of paper I find in a book as the bookmark for that book. Usually library "due back/return" receipts.
No finishes for me this week. I had a few days of not reading at all and I just started The Underground Railroad. I'm only 10% of the way in and I know it's going to be hard going. I couldn't stop thinking about the book as I fell asleep last night, I think it's going to be a very troubling read.
Just finished The Princess Diarist and was disappointed. Currently trudging through Truly Madly Guilty and possibly starting Young Avengers, Volume 1: Style > Substance.QOTW: I worked as circulation clerk at a library last year and I opened a book to find.... *drum roll*....BED BUGS!!!!!!! It was so gross. I could not get the creepy crawly feeling from my hands all day. I also found a note from a super overdue library book where the patron said he/she was too ashamed to show their face. I also accidentally left my beloved Breakfast at Tiffanys bookmark in a library book. I was not happy about that.
Week 10:#14 -- A book involving travel
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
This book goes all over. Donkeys in Afghanistan. Sailboats off the Turkish coast.
Question of the week: Have you ever found something strange tucked inside a book – library book or one of your own? Or have you ever left something unusual inside one of your books?? **Edited to add - or in a used book you've purchased, a book you borrowed, etc**
I've never found anything unusual, other than receipts and appointment reminders from others. But my mom did find an old check she never cashed from the 1980s while cleaning a bookshelf out.
I finished two books this week. I had The House at Riverton planned for a different category but the story touched on different periods of one of the characters life, even though there was a focus on 14-24ish and end of life, but that was good enough for me and it was a task I was glad to mark as complete.7. A book that is a story within a story-About the Night/Anat Talshir 3/5/17
4. A book that takes place over a character's life span- The House at Riverton/Kate Morton 3/6/17
QOTW: I found someone's notes for a job interview in a book.
This week I finished The Love That Split the World. I am using it for the travel prompt - this isn't revealed right away or super obvious, so (view spoiler)I am still working my way through Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes. This book started out soooo slow for me. It's picking up a bit but it hasn't really been keeping my interest so I am very slowly working my way through it.
This brings me to (I believe) 8/40.
QOTW: No actually! I haven't found or left anything interesting in a book but I've always hoped I'd find a book with a beautiful inscription or something. :)
This week I finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain for my pseudonym book. It took me a while to get the rhythm but I really enjoyed reading this book. Ever read a book thinking you've read it before only to realize you haven't? That was me with this book. I'm so glad I finally read it. So much fun reading about Tom's adventures!Next up is Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly for the March group read. I'm looking forward to it. I've been holding off watching the movie until after I read the book.
QotW: I have never found anything beyond library receipts or forgotten bookmarks. But once, when I took a trip across America with my library book, I wrote on my bookmark all the states I traveled to and left the bookmark in the book. I titled my list "All the Places I've Been". I hope someone was amused by it.
I'm working my way through A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters. It's slow going as the type is small, even with glasses on. Also, it's an old copy I got from a book sale and the pages are trying to fall out. I know the story, as the Cadfael series was shown here in the UK in the 90s, (I think), and I've watched the whole lot several times. The whole series of books wasn't televised.Also started reading Beauty and the Beast, Book of the Film, with my children. Hoping to see it at the cinema when it comes out this month.
Started reading Agnes Grey, by Anne Brontë.
QOTW I've found crumbs and library receipts in library books. The coolest find was a fortune telling fish in an old copy of The Canterbury Tales I bought from an old bookshop. I had to study The Franklin's Tale for A level. I still have both the book and the fish. The book's pages aren't all cut either.
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Yes! That happens to me now and then (and the reverse, too: thinking I haven't read a book but discovering that I had) - ooops! I wish Goodreads was around when I was younger, because now I can't remember what I read and what I haven't read. For the longest time, I thought I'd read Middlemarch, but I finally realized I had read The Mill on the Floss instead. (I don't remember anything about the book, except I liked it - we were assigned one part of it, but ended up reading the entire book). And to be honest, I'm still not 100% sure which one I actually read.
Sam wrote: "... The coolest find was a fortune telling fish in an old copy of The Canterbury Tales I bought from an old bookshop. I had to study The Franklin's Tale for A level. I still have both the book and the fish...."
I've never heard of fortune telling fish before! I had to google that to find out what it was. :-)
olá, I'm a late check inner! Last week I worked on the Sugar Maple series and I'm current reading the last of the series:Filha da Magia, don't have a prompt to fill, but all books have fairy, vampires, trolls and other mithologic creatures, this book don't have a cat on the cover, only in the spine. I have a pile of books to read this year, but missing one or two to fullfill all the prompts,I hope that for my birthday I have all the books -in may I'll see! I only found a beautiful linen bookmark inside a book that I bowred to a friend, and now is my bookmark of election!
Sara wrote: "Megan wrote: "I had never heard of Garden Spells until I got it as a gift for Christmas. Are there any other categories it might fit into since I've already read a book for the food prompt?"It's ..."
Thanks! I'll use it for the first book in a series since I wasn't set on my book choice for that prompt.
Hello from Joplin, Mo :)PSA: I AM FINALLY DONE READING 11/22/63!!!!!!!! I know I'm complaining it took me forever to read this one, but I'm so glad I read slowly. Once I finished I realized the book would be about half as long if it only focused on Jake saving JFK. I enjoyed the mundane day to day life of Jake in Jodie almost as much as I enjoyed the thrill of him spying on Lee Harvey Oswald. Great storytelling. Side note, the book is so much different than the mini series. I watched the show first, so I kept thinking, "okay, this is going happen next" and then something totally different happened. I can see why it was modified to a much shorter version for the tv show.
I am not sure what I'm going to read next. I guess I'll go to the library Monday and see what they have thats on my list and what I'm in the mood for. I should probably try The Cuckoo's Calling again because I didn't read much of it the first time around. I'm kind of in the mood for Hidden Figures. We'll see.
I'm at 9/52 total books read.
QOTW: Usually I only find library receipts in books. I do have a sort of embarrassing story from my teenage years. I was 15, my first boyfriend gave me a rose. *swoon* I, like any lovesick teenage girl was obsessed with this rose. When it finally died, I got the bright idea to flatten the rose in one of my giant Harry Potter books so I could keep it forever. Fast forward three months, I forgot where I put it and accused my sister of stealing the rose because naturally she would want some flat old dead rose my 15 year old boyfriend gave me. I found it a few years later when I decided to reread the series. The boyfriend was long gone of course and I felt pretty stupid for ever thinking someone would have taken it and that I would care enough to want to keep the dang thing. Of course, I immediately threw the rose in the trash and never spoke a word of it to my sister. #embarrassing
Megan wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "Wow, I had a great week reading wise. I finished 5 books for Popsugar (26/52, halfway done!), plus one additional one. One of the 5 was a long term audiobook that I just finished on..."Maybe an eccentric character? It takes place in North Carolina.
Mod
PSA: I AM FINALLY DONE READING 11/22/63!!!!!!!! I know I'm complaining it took me forever to read this one, but I'm so glad I read slowly. Once I finished ..."
Congratulations!! I had a little party when I finished that book (it was my 800 page book for this challenge too0 - that's a looooong book.
This week I read two books for the challenge and three others that didn't fit the prompts.For prompt #5 A book by a person of color I read Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it to everyone. Very difficult subject and heartbreaking to read but so well done.
For prompt #21 From a non-human perspective I read Animal Farm by George Orwell. This was also a great read and heartbreaking too. In fact the 2 books went really well with eachother.
Not for the challenge but also read this week were Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce, The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath, and Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce.
This past week I finished The Girl in the Steel Corset. I'm using it as my "steampunk novel."I've found old library check out-slips. I find it neat to see when the books have been read and where the books were checked out.
We, too, are anticipating snow sometime today/tomorrow. Yes, we Southerners lose our minds and go out to buy up every gallon of milk and every loaf of bread! Go figure...I finished a non-challenge book Stone Cold and began our March challenge, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. I'm thinking I'll start The Hot Rock as the book that always makes me laugh.
QoTW: The most interesting thing I've found in a book was a news article about a crime and a receipt from a person who committed the crime. Turned it in to authorities, just in case. Turns out it was a souvenir of someone who had served this person and then realized he was a famous criminal.
Mod
That's definitely very interesting!!
Hey! I'm still new to the challenge and am not too far yet (man I've got a lot of reading to do.I'm only at 2/40. I finished the audio book of Born a Crime last Sunday night. I also finished Monstress Volume One for my book with pictures.
I'm currently reading a book of short stories, Solider Dogs and It. I also know I can get through my book that always makes me smile in a couple of hours/an afternoon, so that will probably be read tomorrow.
QOTW:
I haven't ever found anything interesting in a book. I use a lot of movie stubs and bookstore receipts as bookmarks, so most of my personal library is filled with that.
Off to the dog park now with my pup before the temp gets too cold.
Today started sunny and with open the windows weather, but by mid-afternoon it turned to overcast, windy, and cold. I think rain is coming in tonight.I knocked a couple of books off my list this week. First, I read The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. I've been to the Brazilian Amazon seven times, to Amazonas and Para several times although never to the Mata Grosso region. I have a love for the people of the Amazon, so this book caught my attention as soon as I read the title. I enjoyed this book. It provided a good history on the Indian tribes of the Amazon as well as great narrative on the legend of the City of Z and several explorers who tried to discover it. It fit the prompt for a book that will become a movie in 2017. I think that a great prompt for next year would be A Book About an Explorer.
I switched gears and read Breakfast at the Beach House Hotel for the prompt a book that takes places in a hotel. It was a nice, chic lit read. It was funny and light and fun. I'll probably read the next two books in the series when I'm ready to step away from the reading challenge.
I'm still reading Lamb in Love I do enjoy the book, but I don't get a chance to pick it up as often as I would like. It fits the prompt for a book recommended by an author.
I also started Game Plan The Complete Strategy Guide To Go From Starter Kit to Silver for another project. It will fit the prompt a book with career advice, and I will be working through it with a group over the next several weeks.
Current totals:
12/40 and 3/12.
QOTW: I've bought used books that had great marginalia or personal notes inside the jacket. I haven't found anything inserted in the pages. I did check out a couple of books that are so old they still have the card pocket on the back cover. It brought back great memories of haunting school and public libraries when I was much, much, younger.
A belated hello this week. I had a houseguest so didn't get much reading done, though I did finish A Study in Charlotte. It was really fun, a witty update of the traditional Sherlock Holmes. I'm using it as the first in a new-to-me series.I'm currently reading The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story about the search for an ancient city in Honduras.
Question of the week: Yes! In a used book I purchased, there was an invitation for a wedding that had taken place 15 years previously. The wedding took place in the area where I was living, so I posted a photo of it on Facebook, but sadly none of my friends knew of the wedding. One thought she recognized one of the names, but wasn't sure.
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Octavia E. Butler (other topics)Tamora Pierce (other topics)
George Orwell (other topics)
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Anat Talshir (other topics)
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QOTW nothing really; receipts, maybe the odd plane or train ticket.
As for grocery stores, in Nova Scotia there's a thing before a storm to get your "storm chips" so chips and other types of snack foods as well as staples like water, milk and bread will often be low.
I'm glad to be done the 800 page book although I thoroughlyenjoyed the one I read. I am not looking forward to the career advice one. I'm a stay at home mom, so anything related to that as "career advice" is going to be smarmy, self serving, pretentious twaddle advice about parenting. Barf. No thanks. I'll be loosely interpreting this one and probably doing something related to just life in general, hopefully something funny. Tina Fey's book would have been perfect, maybe I'll see if Amy Poehler's is similar.