Week 19 Check In

[Sheri]

Hi Everyone,

Had another slow week this week. Had a guest for the second weekend in a row, leaves less reading time.

The only book I finished was Oryx and Crake which doesn't even fit in a challenge, I'd put it on a list because my boss recommended it. I figure I'll make a new Atwood thread, just because she seems to inspire lots of comments. So here I'll just say that I liked this better than the Blind Assassin, but I still had some issues with it.

Currently I'm reading Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype which is for Emma Watson's book club, the previous book. Library's hold system was messed up so I didn't get it on time. But they're reading Handmaiden's Tale now which I read already, so not to worries. I think I'm reordering my list, and going to move Americanah to the book with the main character a different ethnicity than you, and put this book into the book written by a person of color. Not really feeling it so far, so trying to power through.

How about everyone else? What are you reading?

[Stephanie]

Hi Sheri!

Well, you did much better than I did last week. I didn't read anything. Nada. Didn't even pick up a book (unless you count a few gardening magazine? I don't, heh). As I mentioned last week, I was getting a bit of reading fatigue and I think I just needed a break. Evenings and weekend have also been very busy as it's "getting the gardens ready" season and I'm working on a few writing/editing projects for a book I'm co-editing for Oxford University Press, so I really didn't push myself to squeeze in reading for the challenge. I was going to start Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this weekend, but I'll bump that and read Oryx and Crake so we can chat about it. You read sooo much--do you ever feel like you need a break or do you have other ways of working around reading fatigue (or maybe that's not a thing for you? :-)) I think my reading fatigue is perhaps just a reflection of more general too-many-things-to-do-fatigue!

I didn't know that Emma Watson had a book club! I'm going to look into that and see where I might double dip. I love the way she enacts feminism in her life and communicates/supports it in her actions, so I'm not surprised to see that (a) she has a book club and (b) this book is on it. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!

Anyone else reading this past week?

[Sheri]

Hi Stephanie!

For me, not reading is not an option. I NEVER just...have no book going. I don't think I'd know what to do with myself, haha.

If I'm getting reading fatigue from reading too many new books/books I don't like/challenging books, that's when I dip into re-reading my favorites, or I go on a comics binge to catch up on my always-behind comics lists. Mercedes Lackey is my go-to "I need a break" because I love her books, and they're not too long. There's particular ones that I go to over and over because they're not too emotionally charged, they're fun, and I love them. (The Black Swan The Fairy Godmother are two of my tops)

Emma's book club is on Good Reads, it's called Our Shared Shelf . Like I said, they're doing Handmaiden's Tale right now. I think there's a list of all the past books, or you can search through the threads to find them. The selection's been all over the place, some I really liked, others not so much. Usually they correspond to an interview she's going to do during the book's window or just after.