Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2018 Weekly Checkins
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Week 12: 3/16 - 3/22
I finally started my annual project of printing digital pictures taken last year, writing on the back, and putting them in photo boxes this week. I think it's the first time I've spent my free time not reading this year. I guess I've been a bit gung-ho about the challenge! It's strange to feel stiff fingers from writing instead of tired eyes from reading.Finished
The Great Alone (a book about mental health) - This book was definitely outside my comfort zone, but boy did I love it! I recommended it to my mom who loves stories about survival and survivors. Kristin Hannah really knows how to tell a story!
Reading
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore - I don't dislike it, but I don't like it either. Now that the plot is picking up maybe it'll get better.
Love, Rosie - Still working on this audiobook during my evening walks. I'm about two-thirds done now. I won't listen to an epistolary novel again. Listening to chat transcripts is painful.
QOTW
Not really. I don't seek out books set where I'm from. If I stumble on one set someplace I know well, it's fun to recognize the landmarks. But I'd rather travel someplace new with a book.
Thanks for the Squirrel Girl info and recommendations! I will definitely be looking into it. My Marvel Unlimited app has some comics of her, so score!(*returns secret handshake to @poshpenny*)
Greetings everyone, from a grey Copenhagen, Denmark.This week I didn´t finish any challenge books.
I read Krystalskibet ("The Crystal Ship") for a children´s book club I run at my work (library). It´s a really enjoyable steampunk for children 9+. It´s set in a flooded London and the main character is a cat burglar (had no idea it was called that in english), who lives in a submarine. A funny thing about this is that it´s Captain Nemo´s old, rusty submarine (you see his logbook in the drawings). So, fun read if you have kids/ like children´s books, and read Danish... (the last one - not very likely). Initially I thought I could use it for set at sea, but they never really set out to sea.
Currently reading, and almost finished A Court of Thorns and Roses (favourite prompt from previous year - based on a fairy tale) and Born to Run (song lyrics)
QOTW:
I like reading about the place I live, but it still has to be something I´m interested in reading anyway. I like seeing my city and the people living there through someone elses eyes and interpretations. My choice for local author wrote about people and fates on the streets of the very area I live (Nørrebro/ Nordvest). @Annabel, have you read Fra drømmenes bog about 1840´s Copenhagen, with a mystery/ adventure twist, and a mysterious library? I really enjoyed that one, and not at all Nordic Noir (It´s translated to French and Italian).
I also like to read a book set in the place I visit, when I´m there, so f.ex. reading The Shadow of the Wind when in Barcelona.
I used to live in Zimbabwe and Botswana as a child/ teen and I really enjoy books set there - it brings back memories, and everything like the colour of the earth, the sounds and smells come back to me. So I thoroughly enjoyed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and We Need New Names. The last one is heartbreaking, about a Zimbabwe after everything went haywire, in the years after I was there last in ´92.
Jen wrote: "Little Women (feminism......not really enjoying it and not sure why I decided to reread it as it hasn't improved, but feminism just isn't for me)."Depending on how you meant this exactly, one of these books might work for you for a different spin on the prompt:
Eve in Exile and the Restoration of Femininity
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her
(They both go through some of the history of feminism in the course of the book, though in very different ways.)
Since I've already read both of those I'm planning to read Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story for the prompt.
Edited to add: I know I'm in the minority here, but Little Women is my least favorite Alcott book. I much prefer Eight Cousins, it's sequel Rose in Bloom or An Old-Fashioned Girl.
Finished this week:Victoria (6. Based on a real person) I love the Masterpiece series on PBS, so I had to read the book. Good stuff.
Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone (43. Being read by stranger in a public place) A sweet story, but a little boring at times.
Currently Reading:
How to Stop Time (Wondering if this could work as a time travel book. He isn't actually traveling back in time, but he's lived for centuries.)
QOTW:
I don't set out to find books that take place where I've lived, but it is a delight whenever I do come across one that I like.
Hi everyone and happy Friday! Late check-in for me. I was at a trade show during the day yesterday and then flew back home. By the time I arrived I just wanted to curl up in bed with a book and didn’t turn on the computer.I finished 3 books that I’m using for Popsugar this week, so I’m now at 19/50 for this challenge.
Books I finished:
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham for a past Goodreads Award winner (35). I was a little disappointed by this one. It was very surface level, and I would have at least expected more about her time on Gilmore Girls, not just commenting about the fashion and hairstyles of the time. (To be fair, she went a little more in depth about the "reboot.") She does seem down-to-earth, though, and someone fun to hang out with.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson for a book with an ugly cover (38). I remember watching the Will Smith movie adaptation several years ago, but that didn’t ruin the book. There were enough differences between them to allow me to still enjoy the original novel. It’s a short read.
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz for a favorite past prompt (40). I chose prompt 34 from 2016, a book from the library, because I’m really trying to utilize the library more. I still love Odd as a character (this is #3 in the Odd Thomas series) and the other characters were great in this one, but the “big bad” was a little too much for me, even for this genre. I do like that Koontz basically starts the action right from page 1, and as he introduces characters he invents a detailed backstory for them, but there isn’t a lot of extra time devoted to setting the stage.
I am currently reading:
I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart
Force of Nature by Jane Harper
The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham
QOTW: I do enjoy reading books that take place where I live or have lived! I like to see how well the author gets the description and facts about the town, and sometimes it makes me feel more connected to the story.
I know I live in Florida but this week was way too hot (91 degrees). My parents came to visit for a few days so I took them to our new ice cream parlor and ate way too much. It was so good. Before they arrived, I was able to fit in my hundred pages a week of reading. I have not finished anything but I have made progress in The Crow Girl. I am now 62% done and I have already added it to my list of books I want to buy that I read on my kindle. That means it will be getting at least a 4 star rating from me. This will be my Nordic Noir pick and I recommend it if you are still looking for something but be aware it is over 700 pages long.
QOTW
I do not seek out books that are set in places where I lived or visited but I do enjoy reading them. I recently read Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen. At one point he was talking about a place that is only a few blocks from me. I liked that I could easily picture the setting because I've been there.
When I was in college there was an author reading so my friends and I decided to go. She was fabulous. I ended up buying the book and was pleasantly surprised to see the setting was my home town, Hilton Head SC. Sadly, I no longer have the book and haven't seen it since my college years (early 1990's). I wish I could find a copy of it now but I only remember the author was female and the cover was dark with purple fireworks. Not much to go on but I am hopeful I will once again stumble upon it.
Happy Spring!I recently finished:
The Echo Killing - not sure it'll count as a challenge
A Wrinkle in Time - 27. Book Set on Another Planet
The Grown Up - maybe 9. Book about Villian or Antihero, maybe no challenges
Currently Reading:
In the Woods
Forty Acres - just got it back on audio from the library so now I can finish it!
QOTW - Yes, I love it! While I think I like any book with a strong sense of place, this is particularly great when it happens to be somewhere I have lived or visited. This is part of why I think I am drawn to the Bosch series. LA is almost another character in those books! When he uses street names it makes me think of my commute from my early twenties -- it really adds something to my reading experience.
18/42I have read/listened to a LOT this week. 11 books. 5 were children books and 1 was a novella. 7 of the books were audio. I finally found my headphones, so now i can listen while walking to and from work.
So its only now as i write this that i realize that only 1 works for this challenge.
28. A book with song lyrics in the title One of Us Is Lying
9 others all fit in other challenges i'm doing some times in more then one challenge.
The last didnt fit in any challenge and is the novella. Alpha & Omegabut it was recommended to read that before reading Cry Wolf. Which i want to read and just became available this morning.
In Progress: I have 2 (actively reading) books.
neither for this challenge. Plus i will start listening to
on my way to work today.QOTW:
Do you like to read books set in the area that you live (or have lived)?
Yes, I dont search them out but its cool when I read something set in the Pacific Northwest. Even better When its someplace close that i know. The one time I saw my towns name i gave a little scream. "oh my god they said Puyallup" it wasn't set there it was in town near by but it said our name. I was also kind of shocked with the town it was set in. you get use to seeing Seattle but to see smaller towns it very cool.
I also love seeing places i might never visit. but there are a lot more books set in places i've never been, then in my home area. So there is a special thrill there.
Sarah wrote: "Have you read any Louise Welsh or Zoë Strachan? I think they do a good turn for Scottish lit. I remember loving The Glass House too, but that was a long while back so I can't remember to what extent the setting played a part."I haven't, no. Thanks for the rec, I'll check them out.
In the last week (give or take) I finished up the last of my list for the 2018 Challenge, and it was quite a mixed bag.For the "seen reading in public" category I read Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Not my favorite book! I'm old enough to remember that period, but punk wasn't really my thing back then, and it's a pretty painful history to read about. The punkers I know now are all recovered addicts, so reading about all the folks who didn't survive the period at least gave me gratitude for their survival. I found this book following a recommendation from this group of a website of pictures of people reading in public, since I live in Spain and don't see many people reading books in English here.
I also read Elmer Kelton's Texas Sunrise for a book related to my heritage. It's set during and just after the Texas Revolution, and since I have an ancestor who was a senator for the Republic of Texas, it seemed to fit the bill. Kelton is a good storyteller and I enjoyed the book.
And then I read Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House for the current problem category. Didn't learn a whole lot I hadn't observed for myself, but the interactions of the different staff factions and everyone's attempts to control Trump's actions are interesting at least. It was a bit horrifying to read that he can't or won't read anything, even briefing papers.
And finally, I read The Roubaud Connection by Estelle Ryan which just was released yesterday for my book published in 2018. It's 12th in her series about an autistic woman working with a team to solve art fraud and thefts, and it lives up to her usual high standards.
And with that I have finished the challenge for this year. Is there a separate post yet where I should publish my "I finished" post?
I found that I went through the challenge much faster this year. I think it's because I had most of the list put together before the challenge started, and then I kept wanting to check off more books once I started. Last year I had a few ideas, but to a great extent I read what I wanted and then figured out where they would fit. I finished in October or November, having also read a lot of other books as well. I'm not sure what I'll do next year. I am a list maker by nature, but I think I need to relax a bit more about it.
And now to read some things just for fun, and continue to meet my Goodreads Challenge for the year. If you're wondering how I have read so many books, I'm a fast reader to start out with, and am a retired librarian living as an expat in Spain, with lots of leisure time to read these days. Living the dream after all those years of facilitating other people's reading!
@Judy; congrats on finishing! I wish I was further along at this point, but I’m only 6 books away from what I read in all of 2017, so I can’t really complain. It’s just that I have so much time to read, that I wonder why it’s still going so ‘slow’, especially with my fast reading speed. It’s been going faster since I haven’t watched any episodes or read any fanfiction, though, so that might be where I ‘lost’ my time before. And now there is Candy Crush, too. And bad days. It’s a struggle haha!
But yes, congrats! Gives me hope that I might finish well ahead of time as well!
Now, go enjoy all of those other books you have left/want to read!
I haven’t finished any books this week! I will probably finish The Handmaid's Tale this weekend and I can’t wait to start watching the series! I’ve heard great things about the show and the book is phenomenal so far. After this, I will probably start reading Americanah. For which prompt, I do not know yet! I’ve also decided to try following an audiobook! I’d love to hear of any easy but attention grabbing books if anyone has any recommendations, please? Thank you in advance!!
QOTW:
I don’t particularly seek out books set where I live but it’s a nice surprise when a place I’ve been to is mentioned in a book!
Mod
Mod
The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
@Judy - you're living my dream retirement!
@Judy, you're also living my dream retirement! happy for you.
Finished: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief for weather element. I read a lot of children's books, I am in school to be an elementary school teacher, and this one is supposed to be good. I was disappointed, probably won't read more of the series.
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James for book published in 2018. Very good, kind of murder mystery meets ghost story.
Reading
Hidden Figures for book about feminism.
Cendaquenta wrote: "you guys really need to check out the Squirrel Girl comics, just sayin'."Jacqueline wrote: "If you haven't heard of her before girls then read The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World and introduce yourself to her."
Currently reading:
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power
On deck:
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World
The man at Powell's ringing me up as pretty jazzed about Squirrel Girl. "What's not to love?"
I tried to get Time Traveling with a Hamster but I was at the one location that didn't have a copy.
Dani wrote: "And I could deal with the blatant rip off Harry Potter until one of the characters mentions Harry Potter, meaning both series exist in the same universe and it annoyed me more than I care to admit."What? That would drive me around the bend! I'm glad I'm not alone at least. This one is getting put on indefinite hiatus.
This week, I finished Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone. This was my "book from a celebrity book club."Unrelated to the challenge, I finished So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Young Zaphod Plays It Safe, and Mostly Harmless.
QOTW: I live in a very small town, so there are not very many, if any, books set here. Any books that are set here are historical books.
Mod
Here we go:
2018 Challenge - I finished!
It's been a long week, but now that it's the weekend again, I can get around to some serious reading.Finished this week:
Booked (Prompt: book about a sport) - a story in verse from the perspective of a star football (soccer) player - funny at times, sad at times, but all around a punch of a story
Everything I Never Told You (Prompt: a book borrowed or given to you) - amazing story. Finished it within a day. Excellent overview of the dynamics of a family and all the secrets that they share - or don't share, in this case.
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families (Prompt: book about true crime) - Whilst not a traditional true crime book in the sense that it doesn't focus on a serial killer, it was a strong journalist view of the genocide in Rwanda. It is much more complex than what we see in Hotel Rwanda with far more rippling implications into international aid, foreign involvement, and genocide than I had imagined.
Hallowe'en Party (Prompt: book set on/around Halloween) - I didn't really want to read "Sleepy Hollow" for this or some Goosebumps books, so I browsed our school library and came across the long shelf of Agatha Christie novels. Perfect for the prompt and classic Christie and Poirot!
To read this week:
The Green Road (Prompt: a book with your favourite colour in the title). I need to transport myself to Ireland. I loved visiting there last summer and would go back in a heartbeat. If it's not possible to be physically there, I'm heading to Ireland in a book!
The Woman in the Window (Prompt: book with alliteration in the title) - Almost done listening to this on Audible. I didn't think it as good as Gone Girl or Girl on a Train at first, but it's grown on me a bit. I suspected the plot twist for while, but since there's three hours left of listening, I'm wondering what really went on and if the main character was as mad as she seems - or if she's being gaslighted.
Animal Farm (prompt: book with an ugly cover) - my copy is older and the cover is hideous. Good excuse to re-read it after many years (since HS).
QofW:
YES! It's one of the best parts of being a mobile expat.
I've gone from Chicago to Shanghai to Hong Kong and then next year is still a big question mark as to where I'll land.
Chicago has a wealth of literature (The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America and so on!), and Richard Peck set several of his YA novels in Midwestern small town Illinois. Shanghai also has had a spate of literature spring up recently with it as a novel's setting, like a lot of Lisa See's novels - Shanghai Girls. Hong Kong has Janice Y. K. Lee's The Piano Teacher and The Expatriates. Also, there is a fantastic local authors scene here, so plenty of books have been written about Hong Kong. Really, it's a fascinating city.
I try to find English bookstores in countries I visit on my travels to get a sense of local culture and what themes and ideas local authors write about. I still have several books on my shelf to get to!
Since my last post I’ve finished a few books for the challenge, liked them all, a good reading week! An American Marriage - a book about a problem facing society today. This book has a lot of hype, but it is good. A novel about the impact of the issue on a specific couple, rather than a book about the issue itself. Very powerful.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine- Celebrity book club choice, lovely book. Very touching.
When Will There Be Good News? - author with the same name as me. I love Kate Atkinson, and this is the third in her Jackson Brodie series. This book has great characters, although the end was a bit vague.
QOTW: I live in a very rural state, so I don’t seek out books that take place here. I will read them, just not my usual genre.
Hi everyone!This week I finished a couple of books:
Vicious by V.E. Schwab. So believe it or not, this is my first VE Schwab book and I am a fan!! Loved this book so much. Great story, page-turner, wonderful characters, and absolutely messed up! Anyway, I used this for the prompt a book about a villain or an antihero (this book was full of them both!).
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. I used this for the prompt a book made into a movie you have already seen because I am rereading this series this year. This book is becoming one of my favorites.
So all in all this brings me to 13/50, yay!
Currently reading: Actually almost finished with The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco. Loving this one!!! I read the first one in the series last year and I really enjoyed it. I am loving this second one!! Don't you just love when a series improves?
QOTW: Well I actually haven't read many books set in the city I currently live which is my hometown (Arequipa), but I would love to read more though. I'll do some research. I have lived in other cities though, like Madrid, Seville, and London and I loved reading books set in those cities. It just gives it a little something extra-special.
Raquel wrote: "Jen wrote: "Little Women (feminism......not really enjoying it and not sure why I decided to reread it as it hasn't improved, but feminism just isn't for me)."Depending on how you meant this exac..."
I did love Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden when I was in primary so I may try Girl Sleuth if I can get hold of a copy.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Raquel wrote: "Jen wrote: "Little Women (feminism......not really enjoying it and not sure why I decided to reread it as it hasn't improved, but feminism just isn't for me)."Depending on how you meant this exac..."
hmmm sorry if this did post the first time I tried but I can't see it anywhere.
Thank you for the suggestions 2 of them do peak my interest; Girl Sleuth (I loved Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden as a primary school kid so it would be interesting to see where the ideas came from)
also the one you are planning would probably suit since I teach Bio, Psych and Chem so it would at least be interesting if it has something new in it.
Thanks again.
Judy wrote: "In the last week (give or take) I finished up the last of my list for the 2018 Challenge, and it was quite a mixed bag.For the "seen reading in public" category I read Please Kill Me: The Uncenso..."
Congratulations! I think I want to retire to Spain too if there is all that reading time.
Perhaps you could re run the list or add the books you read which fit as extras in their categories.....might help those still looking for ideas on categories. I know I have some categories where there will be multiple books read just because I want to read them.
This has been an aggravating week - Wyatt was rearended and so we’ve been dealing with insurance all week and buying new car seats etc. Not much reading as a result. I read Herding Cats and Saga, Vol. 7 because I needed something light to read. Loved both.
I listened to To the Lighthouse, which took me a few stops and starts to get into but by the end I was sorry it was over it was my first Wolff but I’ll definitely read more.
That was pretty serious so I listened to Camp Half-Blood Confidential, which was pretty meh but there were some jokes.
And then this evening I read Dead Light March, a novella that made me very excited for the next full length novel.
None of them were challenge reads, oops. And right now I’m listening to Farmer Boy and reading Home. I’m not sure they fit anywhere either!
Do you like to read books set in the area that you live (or have lived)? Yes - love it. More for places I have lived than where I am now. I grew up outside of Toronto, lived in Kingston and Vancouver, Edinburgh and Seoul and now Colorado Springs and Denver, so I have quite a few options for awesome settings.
Nadine wrote: " live in NY state now, so you'd think it would be easy to find books set where I've lived, but it's surprisingly rare. "Ah, Nadine, I feel your pain! While I have lived most of my life at this point in NYC with its wealth of books set here, I too have allegiance to Upstate. I grew up in Owego, a rural small town near Binghamton, and attended law school in Syracuse. I love finding fiction set in thqose areas.
There are a few mystery writers who set their stories upstate:
Claudia Bishop - 2 sisters own an inn in Hemlock Falls, which has a remarkable similarity to Ithaca and environs
Barbara Block - series set in a pet shop in Syracuse
Miriam Grace Monfredo - historical mysteries set in Seneca Falls
William DeAndrea - series starting with the witty The Hog Murders - set in Sparta, NY which Bill once described to me as a 'very thinly disguised Syracuse' - he lived there for some years.
Romance writer Susan Wiggs has an excellent series set in the Catskills - the Willow Lake series.
Thriller writer Thomas Perry has set some of his upstate, including in the Adirondacks.
And memorably, A Discovery of Witches spends the last third of the book in a town near Syracuse that features a house with the same coffin doors as you find in The Hotel Syracuse. I loved that house!
I am sure there are more, but these are ones I have read and enjoyed, and locale played a part in that.
Mod
Ah, Nadine, I feel your pain! While I have lived most of my l..."
Thanks! good list! I've read (and hated!) A Discovery of Witches, so I'm not going back to that. If I remember correctly, it's set in Madison, which is an actual NY town. I was REALLY irritated that they flew their private plane from Europe into JFK or LaGuardia or whatever and then drove, instead of flying to Albany or Syracuse. She made a fuss about all the privileges of a private plane and then they did something stupid like that? Because traffic across the Tappan Zee is a privilege? I was confused when they ended in NY because flying into NYC I just assumed they were driving to Madison NJ. Which would make sense. I was so annoyed I stopped reading and whipped out my Google to search for all the airports that would have made more sense.
I went to Cornell so Ithaca definitely counts as a place I've lived!
Mod
Wow! what kind of job leads to travel every year or so like that?
Olá from a shysunny, but cold Algarve - Portugal. I think that in last two weeks I didn't check in, but don't had time to do it! finished 3 books(, and started another. the finished:1. A Rapariga Que Sonhava com Uma Lata de Gasolina e Um Fósforo;
2.A Noite;
3. Mrs Dalloway.
The new one is A Livraria dos Finais Felizes.
Mod
Ah, Nadine, I feel your pain! While I have lived most of my l..."
Ooh, even better! According to GR, Barbara Block lives in Syracuse! Voila! My local author book!!
Judy wrote: "In the last week (give or take) I finished up the last of my list for the 2018 Challenge, and it was quite a mixed bag.For the "seen reading in public" category I read Please Kill Me: The Uncenso..."
Good for you! I'm impressed and jealous. Living abroad reading books in cozy out door cafes while sipping delicious espresso and eating fantastic little pastries sounds fabulously relaxing. I'm not sure if that's what you're doing but that's definitely what I want to be doing. Congratulations on finishing the challenge.
This week I finished At the Back of the North WindReading: Little Women and The Gambler
QOTW: Do I like to read books set in the area I live. Most of the books set in South Dakota would be non-fiction pioneer stories. I do like pioneer stories, but you can only read so many. I like a book to take me somewhere I have not been, London and Paris are my favorites. There are very few local authors in my hometown.
I am currently at 12/50.This week I finished:
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay for the prompt "An Issue Facing Society Today." I was intrigued after listening to her on a slew of podcasts last year on a press tour for this book and her Wakanda series. This book was so important, and I am now Roxane Gay's #1 fan.
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman for the prompt "A Book You Meant to Read in 2017." This is a great companion piece to read before (or while) you read American Gods, which I did read last year and loved. As a heads up (because I did not do my research), this is not original material. Neil Gaiman has curated and given his own narrative voice to organizing a series of Norse myths, but it was still a wonderful read.
Currently Reading:
Artemis by Andy Weir for the prompt "A Book Involving a Heist." I am not huge of this so far, which is sad since I loved The Martian when I read it in 2016.
I also picked up The Cuckoo's Calling (A book with a Female Author Using a Male Pseudonym), The Heart's Invisible Furies (A Book Connected to Your Ancestry), and Sleeping Beauties (A Book with Two Authors) from the library this week, but I am a one-book-at-a-time kind of person.
QOTW
I currently live in middle-Georgia, but I also count books near Atlanta as that is where I grew up. There are not very many books set in middle-Georgia that aren't written by local authors. The only major books I can even think of that may count are those written by Carson McCullers, which I have not read. I also have not found many books written in Atlanta, and the ones I have found (books written by Iris Johansen and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) I have not liked.
Completed this weekin the absence of the sun, Finished 3/17/2018, 3 stars, no category
Almost Midnight, Finished 3/17/2018, 4 stars, a book with a time of day in the title
Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Finished 3/18/2018, 3 stars, no category
Currently reading
The Blind Assassin
Hemingway Didn't Say That: The Truth Behind Familiar Quotations
White Oleander
Not sure yet if/how any of these will count for the Popsugar challenge.
QOTW: Do you like to read books set in the area that you live (or have lived)?
I live in NYC. I'm ambivalent about books set here unless they take place in the actual neighborhoods that I work or live in, or if it's historical fiction set in the city because there's often interesting history incorporated.
This week I finished a book from the challenge:The Handmaid's Tale
and I've been jumping between two books right both for the challenge:
Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler's List: Indiana Stories
The Cuckoo's Calling
Had a slow week in reading now I'm trying to catch up, shouldn't be a problem though I've got a few shorter stories on my list.
Greeting from Plano, TX where it's been cool and cloudy or sunny and warm depending on the hour.Challenge to date: 18/40 & 1/10
Finished this week:
Lincoln in the Bardo - just no. Should have DNF's this book. This was for a book about death or grief.
A Thousand Splendid Suns - This was SO hard to read but SO good. I much prefer it to The Kite Runner. This was for an ATY52 challenge.
The God of Small Things - I wasn't nearly as impressed with this book as most people. It was ok but just ok. This was for an ATY52 challenge.
Force Of Nature - Replay my broken record on how great this author and series are, but it's true. Even though this is a series, each book has a unique storyline, and they are always unputdownable.
Stay with Me - another book that was really hard to read. It was a sad book. I'm ready for some light reading. This is for the MMD bookclub read for March.
QOTW:
I don't ever see any books that take place in west Texas which is where I grew up. Sometimes I run across books that take place in the Dallas area which is where I live now. I don't seek them out. I like reading and learning about other places.
This week I finished Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. I've been wanting to read this since it came out last year. I saw someone reading it shortly after it came out in a restaurant so I used it for my advanced prompt "A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place". I loved this book. This year in my class I have a student who suffers from OCD and anxiety. She had to quit public school recently because of her thought spirals. I thought I knew what she meant, but then I read this book. My heart hurt knowing this is what she's going through. I'm so thankful I read this book this year. I was meant to read it so I could better understand her.
Next up is Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, but I'm thinking of quitting it. I just can't get into it. I might switch to Hamilton or The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. In the meantime I'm going to read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.
QotW:
There are not a lot of books written in my area, so when I do find one I enjoy reading it. I think it's fun to image a fictional story enfolding right in my backyard. I also like reading books that take place in places I've been. It makes me feel more intimate with the characters or more invested in the story line.
Dani wrote: "Unauthorized Cinnamon wrote: "Fangirl - pretty sure I'm going to be tarred and feathered, but so far I hate all the characters. Cath is such a sad sack, and none of it reads as remotely realistic t..."You have to read Carry On next. It's all about Simon Snow and it's so good.
Rachelnyc wrote: " also can't resist reading pretty much anything set in Paris because it's my favorite city in the world. .."Same here! I even pull out my tattered and worn Plan de Paris to look up addresses and such in books set in Paris.
Naina wrote: " It's interesting to think about how much we don't know about our parents' lives before we were born and how much being parents can change people. This has been a very thought-provoking read for me, and I highly recommend to all. ...This is so true! A few years ago I discovered a hidden drawer in the cedar chest that had been my mother's hope chest. In it were all the cards and letters from my parents' courtship, wedding and early years of marriage, as well as a diary my mother had kept. It definitely revealed them as a couple and not parents, and went a long way to explaining why my father never even dated after my mother died (she passed in 1979, he in 2006).
Eujean2 wrote: "Jenn wrote: "I'm sure there are a few books set in Toronto, but the only ones I've read and can think of are the Scott Pilgrim series. It is neat to see places you know referenced, but I think I pr..."I think all of Robertson Davies books are set in Toronto.
Judy wrote: "In the last week (give or take) I finished up the last of my list for the 2018 Challenge, and it was quite a mixed bag.For the "seen reading in public" category I read Please Kill Me: The Uncenso..."
Congratulations on finishing! Even if retired with lots of leisure time, tnat is an accomplishment.
Thanks for suggesting the Estelle Ryan books - they are new to me and sound interesting.
Nadine wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Nadine wrote: " live in NY state now, so you'd think it would be easy to find books set where I've lived, but it's surprisingly rare. "Ah, Nadine, I feel your pain! While I have li..."
Now see, none of that bothered me in the least about Discovery of Witches because everyone I know always fly in and out of NYC airports then drives upstate, even when close to Syracuse - although none are north of Syracuse so that could change the perception.
When you were at Cornell, was there still that French restaurant on the top of the hill where 96B starts its descent into Ithaca proper - it was a converted farmhouse named I think Cochon Rouge? I always thought that was the initial inspiration for the inn in Claudia Bishop's series.
Barbara Block's are fun. First is Chutes and Adders.
So glad I provided a local author for you! Clearly my lifelong addiction to cozy mysteries is paying off.
@Judy - if you posted your reading list in the group, would you share what number you are? I like seeing what others who have completed the challeng have read for prompts that are giving me fits.
As a slight tangent from the QOTW, and the discussion with Nadine about books set in upstate NY, I just remembered that there is a renowned author from my hometown, Owego, NY -General Henry Robert who, while living there, wrote Robert's Rules of Order, the seminal guide to parliamentary procedure still used today. In fact I have a copy sitting on my office bookshelf as a reference for meetings I chair.I think I will stick with an author local to my current abode NYC!
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc (other topics)Salt: A World History (other topics)
Out of Rushmore's Shadow: The Luigi Del Bianco Story – An Italian Immigrant's Unsung Role as Chief Carver (other topics)
Testament of Youth (other topics)
The Crown: The inside history (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Carl Hiaasen (other topics)Josephine Siebe (other topics)
Kerstin Gier (other topics)
Arno Strobel (other topics)
Agatha Christie (other topics)
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Finished:
#10 A book about death or grief: The Fault in Our Stars I love John Green, but I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as Paper Towns or Looking for Alaska. That's probably because I had already seen the movie, so I already knew what was going to happen. The book was better of course.
Currently Reading:
#28 A book with song lyrics in the title I Know This Much Is True Like the book so far, but HATE the main character. How can he keep being so mean and stupid?!? Hope it ends with some kind of redemption or I will be mad that I spent so much time reading it. It is long!
QOTW:
I enjoy reading books that take place in my hometown (Pittsburgh, PA) or where I live now. I enjoy books that take place anywhere that I'm familiar with, even if it's not that great. I read one book that takes place where I'm living now in NY that I didn't like at all. The ONLY thing I liked about the book was all the references to places I knew.