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Team 9: We Found Waldo


Shelf: Disability
Book: My Sister's Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
Pages: 423
Date completed: Jun 22
Qualification: tagged "disabilty" 16 times
Rating: 5
Review: There was some intense court room drama scenes that were so captivating. There's so much morally grey-area issues with this book, you almost don't know who to "route" for.
There are other elements to the story, some I cared about some I didn't. What I really hated was the love story between Julia and Campbell. It soooo didn't need to be in the book.
The ending just destroyed me. It's so devastating and completely blind-sided me. I highly recommend this book.

Shelf: Fantasy/Paranormal/UF
Book: Ruin and Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Pages: 422
Qualification: Tagged fantasy by 6,046 users

Completion Post
Shelf: Free Space
Book: Arsenic and Old Books
Author: Miranda James
Pages: 306
Qualification: Borrowed from library
Read: 06/24/19
Rating: 4
Review: I enjoy cozy mysteries. They are great for challenges, easy quick reads. This seems to be one of the few cozy series where the lead is a male sleuth. Politics and age of family secrets come to play in this installment of the series.

Free Space
Book: Something Rotten
Author: Jasper Fforde
Date read: 6/7/19
Pages: 385
Qualification: Any (free space)
Rating: 5
Review: Once again, a bri..."
Jennifer - can you clarify how this is 'free'. Did you get from library, gift, read from KU?

Selections Tracking
Jennifer: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft | Post
Celia: Wandering Star by Romina Russell | Post
Jill: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo | Post
Plethora: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe | Post
Sophie (UK): How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards | Post
Suzanne (Esmeralda1): Circe by Madeline Miller | Post


Shelf: Free Space
Book: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Pages: 444
Qualification: Free Space
Date: 6/..."
Hi Suzanne - Can you please clarify how this fits free. Library book, gift, KU, etc.

From the rules "Falling 3 books behind the current shelf will result in disqualification"
So while you don't have to complete the current shelf weekly, you have some freedom to make it fit life, you should be at least finishing one of your books at a somewhat regular pace.


Shelf: Free Space
Book: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Pages: 444
Qualification: Free..."
Sure thing!


Shelf: Fantasy/Paranormal/UF
Book: Circe
Author: Madeline Miller
Pages: 393
Qualification: Tagged fantasy by 4,849 users

Shelf: Fantasy/Paranormal
Book: Senlin Ascends
Author: Josiah Bancroft
Pages: 389
Qualification: Tagged "fantasy" 1431 times
Date read: 6/25/19
Rating: 3 stars
Review: This was a very unusual book. It started a bit slowly, but because the world Bancroft sets up is so different from anything I've seen before in sci-fi/fantasy novels, I was willing to stick with it until it got off the ground, which it did about 1/3 of the way in. There is a lot of description, which I guess is necessary (because the world he is creating is so unusual) but which tends to drag down a book for me - I prefer plot-driven novels. Fans of Tolkien would probably love this. Anyway, if you are into steam punk or you are a sci-fi/fantasy fan who feels that novels of that genre are starting to get a certain "sameness" to them, this is a good one to try.

SHELF #4: Suspense/Thriller
Time to post your shelf selection book for shelf 4.
Selection Post Example
Shelf:
Book:
Author:
Pages:
Qualification:
Completion Post Example:
Shelf:
Book:
Author:
Pages:
Read:
Rating:
Review: Just 3-4 sentences. Tell us what the book is about, what you thought of your read, what you liked or disliked, and would you recommend this book to your friends.

Completion Tracking
Jennifer: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft | 1431 tags | 06/25/19 | 3 stars | Review Post
Celia: Wandering Star by Romina Russell | 83 tags | 07/30/19 | 5 stars | Review Post
Jill: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo | 6,062 tags | 06/30/19 | 3 stars | Review Post
Plethora: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe | 18 tags | 06/28/19 | 3.5 stars | Review Post
Sophie (UK): How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards | 153 tags | 06/28/19 | 3 stars | Review Post
Suzanne (Esmeralda1): Circe by Madeline Miller | 4,849 tags | 06/25/19 | 5 stars | Review Post

Shelf: Fantasy/Paranormal
Book: Senlin Ascends
Author: Josiah Bancroft
Pages: 389
Qualification: Tagged "fantasy" 1431 times
Rating: 3 stars
Revie..."
Hi Jennifer - Can you please add the date read to your post.

Selection Tracking
Jennifer: The Widow by Fiona Barton | Post
Celia: The Death Collector by Justin Richards | Post
Jill: Recursion by Blake Crouch | Post
Plethora: Small Spaces by Katherine Arden | Post
Sophie (UK): The Falling of Everything by Jessica Sorensen | Post
Suzanne (Esmeralda1): When You Dare by Lori Foster | Post

Selection Post
Shelf: Fantasy
Book: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs
Author: Katherine Howe
Pages: 352
Qualification: Shelved "fantasy" 18 times; "paranormal-witches" 20 times; "fantasy-paranormal" 15 times
Celia wrote: "In the future, can I just post the links to my own reviews? I review everything on Goodreads."
No! You have to post your reviews here.
No! You have to post your reviews here.

Shelf: Historical
Book: The English Patient
Author: Michael Ondaatje
Pages: 320
Qualification: Tagged historical by 1,232 users

Completion Tracking
Jennifer: The Widow by Fiona Barton | 573 tags | date | 3 stars | Review Post
Celia:
Jill: Recursion by Blake Crouch | 304 tags | 07/10/19 | 5 stars | Review Post
Plethora: Small Spaces by Katherine Arden | 12 tags | 07/03/19 | 4 stars | Review Post
Sophie (UK): The Falling of Everything by Jessica Sorensen | book precis dark romance suspense (no tags, tagged as such on Amazon) | 07/01/19 | 3 stars | Review Post
Suzanne (Esmeralda1): When You Dare by Lori Foster | 137 tags | 07/07/19 | 3 stars | Review Post


Shelf: Fantasy/Paranormal/UF
Book: Circe
Author: Madeline Miller
Pages: 393
Qualification: Tagged fantasy by 4,849 users
Date: 6/25/2019
Rating: *****
Review: Madeline Miller came to our library to talk about her novel and it was excellent! The story of Circe is fascinating because she is the only woman in the Odyssey that is not punished for weilding power seperate from a man. I highly recommend looking up an author interview on youtube before you read the novel!

I am very close to finishing my book for week one. So sorry. I'm almost done with it. I got really involved in my writing and spent very minimal time reading. It should be a lot better now that I am finished writing all of Prisoner of Azkaban for my fanfiction. I will try to finish tomorrow.
Again, I'm really sorry I've been a total absentee. I do understand that I've missed three weeks but I am working hard on it. I will try very hard to finish week one by tomorrow, which I should be able to do if I don't let myself get distracted.


Shelf: Fantasy/UF/Paranormal
Book:

Author: Romina Russell
Pages: 303
How it fits: MPG fantasy


Shelf: Fantasy/Paranormal/UF
Book: How to Save an Undead Life
Author: Hailey Edwards
Pages: 248
Qualification: Tagged urban fantasy by 153 users
Date: 28/6/219
Rating: 3*
Review: Grier is a young necromancer recently released from a horrific prison for immortals after being accused of a crime she didn't commit. I did like this book but I felt that sometimes it didn't flow as easily as I would have liked. I had to go back and re-read paragraphs because I'd lost track of what was happening. It also felt as though there may have been other books before this one, even though it's #1 in the series because I felt a bit confused by the back story.

I did see it, i just hadn't updated it at the time because it didn't match your selection post i had. So it wasn't an easy copy/paste as being a book i had verified looking at before.

Book: Nexus
Author:Ramez Naam
Pages: 460
Qualification: Tagged "thriller" by 110 users

Selection Post
Shelf: Historical
Book:

Author: V.E. Schwab
Pages: 413
Qualification: Shelved "historical" 207 times

Shelf: Historical
Book:

Author: V.E. Schwab
Pages: 413
Qualification: Shelved "historical" 207 times
Date read: 6/29
Rating: 3 stars
Review: The story is divided into thirteen separate parts with 20-30 pages per part, which just increases the game-like feel of the novel. It's like how some games have different levels, but things don't really change. There's a lot of meaningless action and battles, and not much else. Some of the characters were pretty good, though.

Shelf: Free space
Book: The Friend Zone
Author: Sariah Wilson
Pages: 304
Read: 29/6
Rating: 2*
Review: This book took me a while to finish simply because it didn't particularly engage me. I accept that most romance stories are unrealistic and can put that aside quite easily but I found the male MC to be a bit too soppy for me and the female MC was either incredibly naïve or a bit of a game-player to be honest. The author made a point of omitting curse words, which is fine, but I think it would have been better to just not include them rather than make a big deal of substituting curse words (e.g. bullsugar - just no). I like NA stories but this felt a lot more like YA and a bit too sickly sweet.

Shelf: Suspense
Book: The Falling of Everything
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Pages: 228
Qualification: Described as a 'coming of age dark romance suspense series'


Shelf: Suspense/Thriller
Book: The Falling of Everything
Author: Jessica Sorensen
Pages: 228
Read: 1st July
Rating: 3*
Qualification: Kindle Unlimited
Review: Raven moves to a new town with her abusive aunt and uncle and meets the mysterious Raven 3. After accidentally passing their initiation test she is accepted into their exclusive fold and finds out her new town is a dangerous place to live. This book tackled some pretty dark issues, including domestic abuse as well as hints at other types of abuse across a couple of other characters. I didn't realise until I was halfway through that it had been classed as 'reverse harem'. I've never read anything in that genre and it's not really my thing (I'm not even exactly sure what it is!) so I was dubious about whether to continue. Turns out there was nothing too weird going on so I managed to read most of it in an evening. There were a few typos/grammatical errors, which are one of my bugbears but other than that it was alright.

Shelf: Fantasy/Paranormal/UF
Book: Ruin and Rising
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Pages: 422
Qualification: MPG Fantasy
Date: Jun 30
Rating: 3*
Review: The last installment of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy was pretty good. A lot more action and less love triangle drama than book 2, which makes for a much more interesting story. We finally get some answers and back story to the legends surrounding the amplifiers that provided a good "twist." I didn't understand how it all worked completely (I wish this was better explained).

Shelf #4: Suspense/ Thriller
Book: Recursion
Author: Blake Crouch
Pages: 336
Qualification: MPG Thriller

Completion Post
Shelf: Fantasy
Book: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs
Author: Katherine Howe
Pages: 352
Qualification: Shelved "fantasy" 18 times; "paranormal-witches" 20 times; "fantasy-paranormal" 15 times
Read: 06/28/19
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review: I was hoping for a bit more on the re-visiting of characters from the original book. I couldn't help wonder if the family curse was more of just the times that these past relatives lived in. As Connie is a history professor you would think this would also cross her mind, but she is very narrow minded about it and lives with her head in the dirt sometimes which was annoying. Poor Sam!

Historical
Book: The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
Author: Philip Pullman
Date read: 11/6/2019
Pages: 266
Qualification: Tagged Historical b..."
Hi Sophie - This completion post is missing the star rating.

Shelf: Free space
Book: The Friend Zone
Author: Sariah Wilson
Pages: 304
Read: 29/6
Rating: 2*
Review: This book took me a while to finish simply be..."
Hi Sophie - Can you please add "Kindle Unlimited" to this completion post for qualifications.

Selection Post
Shelf: Suspend
Book: Small Spaces
Author: Katherine Arden
Pages: 224
Qualification: Shelved "suspense" 12 times

Current Standings
Link to post with links to all selection/completion post
Free Space
Selections have been posted for everyone. (Jill while you didn't post a selection, you did complete your book. Celia changed book selection)
✔ Jennifer: Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde - Completed
✔ Celia: Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian - Completed
✔ Jill: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas - Completed
✔ Plethora: Arsenic and Old Books by Miranda James - Completed
✔ Sophie (UK): The Friend Zone by Sariah Wilson - Completed
✔ Suzanne (Esmeralda1): The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - Completed
** Note: Sophie please go back and correct your completion post to meet the requirements. See post above.
Week 1: Historical
Selections have been posted for everyone.
✔ Jennifer: The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict - Completed
✔ Celia: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab - Completed
Jill: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Plethora: Napoleon's Last Island by Thomas Keneally
✔ Sophie (UK): The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman - Completed
✔ Suzanne (Esmeralda1): Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - Completed
** Note: Sophie please go back and correct your completion post to meet the requirements. See post above.
Week 2: Disability
Selections have been posted for everyone.
✔ Jennifer: It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini - Completed
Celia: A List of Cages by Robin Roe
✔ Jill: My Sister's Keeper - Completed
✔ Plethora: The Boy Next Door by Annabelle Costa - Completed
✔ Sophie (UK): You and Everything After by Ginger Scott - Completed
Suzanne (Esmeralda1): The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Week 3: Fantasy/Paranormal/UF
Selections have been posted for everyone.
✔ Jennifer: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft - Completed
Celia: Wandering Star by Romina Russell
✔ Jill: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo - Completed
✔ Plethora: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe - Completed
✔ Sophie (UK): How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards - Completed
✔ Suzanne (Esmeralda1): Circe by Madeline Miller - Completed
Week 4: Suspense/Thriller
Jennifer: Nexus by Ramez Naam
Celia:
Jill: Recursion by Blake Crouch
Plethora: Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
✔ Sophie (UK): The Falling of Everything by Jessica Sorensen - Completed
Suzanne (Esmeralda1):
Completed:
Please review your completions to stay on track, 3 shelf books behinds is grounds for disqualification. This is week 4, week 5 shelf will be announced 7/2
Jennifer: 3/4 + free space
Celia: 1/4 + free space
Jill: 1/4 + free space
Plethora: 2/4 + free space
Sophie: 4/4 + free space
Suzanne: 2/4 + free space
(view spoiler)


Sorry! I didn't catch that, the other post by team mates was including it and it normally is required in challenges. I didn't think to double check against the example provided by the group mods.

SHELF #5: Animals / Pets
Time to post your shelf selection book for shelf 4.
Selection Post Example
Shelf:
Book:
Author:
Pages:
Qualification:
Completion Post Example:
Shelf:
Book:
Author:
Pages:
Read:
Qualification :
Rating:
Review: Just 3-4 sentences. Tell us what the book is about, what you thought of your read, what you liked or disliked, and would you recommend this book to your friends.

Completion Post
Shelf: Disability
Book: A List of Cages
Author: Robin Roe
Pages: 310
Qualification: tagged "disability" 19 times
Date finished: 6/30
Rating: 5 stars
Review: Do you know that feeling where a book has all the elements of your favorite books, and maybe also incorporates some things from books you didn't like, but somehow manages to do them so much better? That was A List of Cages for me. I could really connect and empathize with the characters and the story. Definitely a young adult novel that everyone should read.

Selection Post:
Shelf: Fantasy
Book:

Author: Rick Riordan
Pages: 394
Qualification: MPG fantasy

Shelf: Suspense/Thriller
Book:

Author: Katharine McGee
Pages: 448
Qualification: Shelved 16 times as "thriller"

Shelf: Animals/Pets
Book:

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 409
Qualification: Tagged "animals" 15 times

Shelf: Animals/Pets
Book: Because of Winn-Dixie
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Pages: 182
Qualification: It's about a dog.
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Outsiders (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Celia Rees (other topics)Liz Braswell (other topics)
S.E. Hinton (other topics)
S.E. Hinton (other topics)
Maya Banks (other topics)
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Shelf: Free Space
Book: The Hate U Give
Author: Angie Thomas
Pages: 444
Qualification: Free Space - Gift
Date: 6/20/2019
Rating: *****
Review: My mom picked this as our book to read for our Feminists Book Club and I really liked it! She picked it because she was genuinely curious about it and had heard a lot of good things. Our book club consists of 10 retired college professors and our discussions get really indepth and I always feel like I've learned something after we're done. Even if I didn't enjoy the book, I appreciate it more after I've discussed it with our group. During our discussion we watched a video of the author at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1gNY... and had a really interesting discussion on race. We talked about the police and their relationship to the communities they serve. It was a great book to share with our club, I highly recommend it!