Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2020 Weekly Checkins
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Week 2: 1/3 – 1/9
The weather outside is made for reading inside. Finished Bloody Genius by John Sandford and The Martian by Andy Weir.
I am reading Flipped by Wendelin Van Draane and A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert.
QOTW: I read books as I find them. There are so many exciting books set to come out this year so no reason to save for later.2
Hayjay315 wrote: "Happy Thursday and Check-In Day!I seem to be the outlier in the conversation occurring between the ATY and Popsugar prompts. I was not enthused by the ATY prompts so am not reading for that one. ..."
I agree that Popsugar is more original, but ATY is easier to read for organically, for me. Although the 20s Advanced prompts are a bit meh for me. Easy, but meh. But then ATY has some other prompts that I loathe so you know. Can't win them all haha!
Johanne wrote: " I like to do jigsaw puzzles ..."I love this! I feel like it might work for me
Tracy wrote: "Question of the week:Do you reserve some books for reading later in the year or do you dive right in to your most exciting reads right away?
There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to how I decide..."
THE BINDING *shrieks*
Milena wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Tracy wrote: "The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone- on audio. I CAN'T DO AUDIO!!!!!! It is so frustrating to me. I need to just stop trying...."Are you doing anything else whilst you're lis..."
I do jigsaw puzzles on my laptop, play Candy Crush, diamond paint, drawing, coloring, bujo, lettering.. literally anything that requires the other half of your brain!
Johanne wrote: "Happy friday all!Work has been insane this week. On top of my own, I have taken over the workload of a colleague who got separated over christmas. Horrible shit, separations.
Finished
[book:Monst..."
I set several goals for myself, finishing/catching up on a bunch of series, a bunch of books I want to read this year for sure, and more of my own shelves- start on your shelf a thon is really helpful with that last one!
@Milena - I also wished it worked for me. I listen to music instead and try to do as little housework as possible ;)
@Tracy, yes it's quite meditative. I haven't done it in a while, and now I want to.
@Carmen, yes I think something about the different parts of your brain engaged, is why jigsaw puzzles and audiobooks work so well for me. What is 'start on your shelf-athon'? sounds like something I could use ;)
Johanne wrote: "@Carmen, yes I think something about the different parts of your brain engaged, is why jigsaw puzzles and audiobooks work so well for me. What is 'start on your shelf-athon'? sounds like something..."
Startonyourshelfathon is a readathon focused on reading books you already own, whether physical, e-, or audio. You collect stars for your star map :D. I made my own system with all the colors of the rainbow for the stars, and I have 7 already :D
So far, I have finished reading:Mom & Me & Mom
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Currently reading:
The Witches Are Coming
Mod
I would agree with Heather! :)
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I had to laugh! I read this as 'Man work' is kicking my butt this week. And thought, what is 'man work'? ;)
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Hahaha sometimes that's the only thing motivating me!
Hi all!Now that Ive finished the busy part of my week, i can get some serios reading/ listening done.
In the past week I have finished the following books...
My favorite, that me itching to read it while at work was Red, White & Royal Blue I haven't decided which prompt to use it for yet. I want to cross of some of the hard (for me) catagories, early in the year so I'm not slogging at the end of tbe year. Can we swjtch books around during the year? I may use it fill prompt #30; world leader.
Less exciting was The Melier ,to be fair, RW&Rb was so good and excellently written, that it biased my feelings toward this book. It does have a trope that is a guilty pleasure, Girl Meets Alien. There were elements that I feel elevate this book from others in this trope. The woman rescues the alien. Nice surprises with alien biology. The MC had hilarious inner dialogue/arguments with herself. I feel that if the author had upped the angst the MC's had due to the trauma's forced on them, there would have been more depth to the book. Ultimately, I was a bit confused. Was it an Erotica book, (these scenes didnt do it for me.) ? A Fluffy romance? A romance with emotional growth of the MCs? I ended up giving it ⭐⭐⭐ as it left me with a meh feeling.
So this post is much longrr than i meant it to be, I'll wrap up quickly. I also read Playing with Jax and Son of A so I could finish the Chosen series. While both books had some hot, funny, and touching moments; neither had the magic of the earlier books. Frankly, I think the author got tired of the series. After 30 books (even short ones) that is valid and understandable.
Happy Reading!
M
So excited to be participating in this challenge for the first time! I have always checked the prompts in previous years but never actually jumped in to participate. I have posted by tentative reading list with a few TBD items for now. Finished:
9) A book with a map - The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee - This was picked for me to read through a TBR group that I participate in. I received it in an Owlcrate box and was really looking forward to reading it but it ended up letting me down a bit. I found the main characters irritating and whiny a lot of the time. The adventure was fun but it did drag in some places. Overall a 3 star for me. Still not sure if I will read the next in the series or not.
Currently Reading:
21. A book published the month of your birthday (November) - Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw. Another of my Owlcrate books that I am happy to be getting to. I'm really enjoying this one so far. I read The Wicked Deep last year and I really like Shea Ernshaws writing. I will for sure pick up any other books she writes. Hoping to finish this one this weekend.
27. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins (Lust) - A Lesson in Thorns by Sierra Simone I'm only about 40 pages into this one and am still on the fence of what to think of it. It is interesting but not the best romance I have read. Hoping it grabs my attention after a few more pages tonight so I can finish it up early next week.
Question of the week:
Do you reserve some books for reading later in the year or do you dive right in to your most exciting reads right away?
The only books that I tend to save for later in the year are holiday themed books and I usually save at least a few horror and/or mystery thrillers for the fall when I crave a spooky season. I also don't pick up any really big books at the start of the year as I usually want to burn through a few quick books to set the pace for the year.
Tracy wrote: "Johanne wrote: " I like to do jigsaw puzzles ..."I love this! I feel like it might work for me"
I find listening whilst cooking and getting ready in the morning / for bed helps me to get through quite a few audiobooks.
But I think the real key to audiobooks is having a great narrator - I find autobiographies and memoirs read by the author work well, but my favourite audiobooks are those read by actors.
Hello! One of my goals was to start a bookstagram, which I've done! I'm really excited to have this project for myself and to have a new way to connect with people over books.This week I finished only Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda and illustrated by Jonny Sun, which I counted as a book about or involving social media. The book is a collection of LMM's good morning/good night tweets, featuring fun little illustrations by Jonny, whose art style I adore. I absolutely loved this book. It's the perfect little pep talk I need as my days are filled with doing job applications which is really stressful. It's a book I'm definitely going to pick up and go theough a few pages whenever I feel down, I can already tell.
So I'm currently at 2/50 for the challenge, as both books I've already read I've been able to count for the challenge.
QOTW: I always want to read things right away and then just... get distracted? So I'll often leave things but kind of unintentionally. The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black was an end of year new release that I started the day if came out, which I have not done in AWHILE.
I was back at work this week, so most of the reading I got done was at the weekend.Finished:
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - I really enjoyed this. It was a fast read with a fun plot. I used this for prompt 9, a book with a map.
Educated - Used for ATY, a book with a genre or sub genre that starts with a letter from your name. This was a hard read at times because of the subject matter, but I felt it was really worth it.
The Confession - Used for ATY, a two-word prompt where the first word is 'The'. I really enjoyed this book, although the plot was quite obvious from very early on in this book. This was the second book I have read from Jessie Burton, and she really pulls you in to the story and keeps you hooked on it, even if you knew what was going to happen.
Currently Reading:
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
The Autograph Man
Remembering Babylon
I'm quite a way through the first two of these, and should get both finished either today or tomorrow. I've not got into Remembering Babylon yet - I'm about 20% of the way through - but hopefully it will pick up soon. And if it doesn't, it will at least be quite a short read.
Up next:
Not sure, but I'm going to the library tomorrow so I'm sure I'll come home with more books than I can possibly read before they are due back! I want to get stated on at least one non-fiction book, as I tend to be much slower reading these.
QOTW:
I rely on the library for most of my books, so I put holds on the books I want to read with the longest wait list, and then just pick up any books I can whilst I'm at the library. There are 5 libraries within about 8 miles of where I live, and for the books I want to read this year, I've got lists of which library each book is available from. The books I get out depend on whichever library I am closest to. I have about 40 unread books at home, so I read these when I can't make it to the library.
FinishedBookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan
A book with a book on the cover
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
A book with a great first line
Currently reading
The Gay Dolphin Adventure by Malcolm Salville
A book with a map
The Photograph by Penelope Lively
A book by an author who has written more than 20 books
I’ve checked out quite a few books from the library, so I have some good books lined up to read next.
Theresa wrote: "Greetings this cold day from NYC! Not much accomplished this week - I've only read 2 for Popsugar so far, both in the advanced section. That's fine because I'd essentially finished the 2019 challengeI also am participating in various buddy reads and challenges in another GR group - PBT. ..."
@ Theresa - Which group is PBT? What type of challenges do they do? I'm only doing PS and ATY this year and have dropped the other challenges I did last year, so I'm looking at maybe picking up a different challenge.
Emerson wrote: "Can we swjtch books around during the year?"Totally! Lots of us end up shuffling our books around to accommodate something new that we read that only fills an already finished prompt.
Carmen wrote: " THE BINDING *shrieks*...."LOL, Carmen, You are the first person I thought of when I picked it up :-)
Hello from Milwaukee! If you're jealous of cold weather, just hop on up here...we're supposed to get quite the snowstorm starting with gale force winds tonight, and then tons of snow over the weekend. This southern girl will be staying *inside* lolI finished Evelina this week and I liked it, but more from the point of view of a literary curiosity than anything else. Fanny Burney was the most immediate precursor to Jane Austen's novels, and you can definitely see how Austen would have been influenced by this book. But Austen is the far superior writer. There were just a lot of things that didn't tie in very well, and some underdeveloped characters. On the whole though, a good read. I'll probably give another of her books a shot.
QOTW: Not really. I don't generally feel a need to pace out my exciting books.
So far I've completed 2 of the prompts and working on a third. I used
for the book published in 2020, it came out on January 7th, for an author with more than 20 books, I'm reading James Patterson's
, and for a book about social media, today I'm starting
I'm behind on updating this week!I have read:
a book about a world leader All-American Girl (the girl saves the president from an assassination attempt, etc)
a book about something I knew nothing about--I'd never heard of this singer, I kid you not: Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song by Sara Bareilles
a Western, and I used this book because it's been shelved both western and westerns many times (and parts of it are about the pony express, it is mainly set on a ranch, etc) - Letter Perfect
I know I posted last week and think I posted all of the four other ones I've read already.
Happy New Year everybody! I’m late checking in I realize. I want to participate more this year so I’m doing it anyway.I finished Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark. I hadn’t read this author before. This book wasn’t what I hoped it would be. I was excited about the idea of a puzzle house but you don’t get to solve any puzzles. It was predictable and I struggled to finish it. I’d give it 2 stars.
I haven’t really thought about a prompt for this book yet.
I am currently reading Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. This book is absolutely not something I would usually read. I’m not very far into it but it’s an enjoyable read so far.
Popsugar Regular challenge 1?
QotW
I do get my books from the library if possible so that is bound to dictate when I read some of the prompts. There are definitely some prompts that seem harder to fill with a book I’ll enjoy. I haven’t really made a list yet but once I do I think I will try to get some of the prompts I think may be more difficult for me out of the way and save some of the more enjoyable ones for later in the challenge.
Hello everyone!Finished
This Is How You Lose the Time War - 8. A book with an upside-down image on the cover
First book of the year and the first 5-star read. Such a beautifully written book. I loved it!
The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One - 25. A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics
Picked this one up in audiobook, so that I could also cross off the book riot prompt and it was one of the few the library had available. I have so many regrets.
Words with Wings - ATY9 Book that can be read in a day
Progress
PS - 2/52 | ATY - 2/52| BR - 1/24
Currently Reading
We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir
My Sister, the Serial Killer
QOTW
I just pick up whichever book I'm in the mood for or is due back to the library first.
I finished one book this week and started a new one in addition to the other two I’m currently reading. I'm hoping to finish off these 3 books in the upcoming week.Finished:
Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories, 1/4/2020, 4 stars, “A book you picked because the title caught your attention”
Currently Reading:
Blindness
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
The Authenticity Project
Question of the Week:
Do you reserve some books for reading later in the year or do you dive right in to your most exciting reads right away?
I’ll hold off reading some books if I know they’ll pair well with other times of year, such as Black History Month (February), Women’s History Month (March), Pride Month (June), or Halloween time (October).
Carmen wrote: "I do jigsaw puzzles on my laptop, play Candy Crush, diamond paint, drawing, coloring, bujo, lettering.. literally anything that requires the other half of your brain!"This is super impressive to me. I'm bad at listening to things in general, but especially when doing something that requires concentration like drawing. I'd probably wind up focusing on my art and then realize that 10 minutes have passed since I heard a word of the book.
I finished three books this week, of which the highlight by a long way was Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad.Progress 4/50
Currently reading - I'm just about to start Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed.
QOTW - pretty much dive right in, depending on library availability and what I feel like reading next.
I've reported message 185 for spam.
Carmen wrote: "Johanne wrote: "@Carmen, yes I think something about the different parts of your brain engaged, is why jigsaw puzzles and audiobooks work so well for me. What is 'start on your shelf-athon'? sound..."
This is so cool (and cute!). My focus with all my reathons is to use my owned books first, so I'm definitely signing up!
Karin wrote: " a book about something I knew nothing about--I'd never heard of this singer, I kid you not: Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song by Sara Bareilles...."I LOVE her, such a beautiful voice. How was the book? That might be one I'd be interested in reading.
I despise the cold and snow guys. Thankfully we haven't had much here in CT, and the weather has been pretty warm ( 30 degrees, sometimes 40). The exception was a few weeks ago when we had a dip down into the 20's and then an icestorm that left us all covered in about 2 solid inches of ice. It brought down trees and power lines and it was treacherous out there for a whole week until it warmed up again. I had to hack the ice off my stairs and car with the snow scraper. Walking the dog was terrifying. I'd rather have snow. The upside to that was it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL outside. So sparkly.
Mod
I deleted it. Honestly I'm not sure if it's better to leave it there for GR to see or just delete it?
almost every day with these spammers!!! whenever I see a very "basic" name like "Jennifer Slater" suddenly making several dozen comments in the morning (Eastern Time - of course it's evening in Pakistan), I know ... I have to go delete a bunch of spam. I really wish Goodreads would change how people can sign up - to at least add in an email verification or something to screen out some of these fake accounts.
I've had a funny week trying to get back into the work routine while finding somewhere new to live. Seem to have got through a lot of reading though somehow!Finished:
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows - book picked up for the title - I didn't really like this one and gave it 2 stars. I'd had it on my tbr for ages as well so that's disappointing
Dry - author of over 20 books - liked but didn't love. The atmosphere was great but some of the behaviour of the characters took me out of the story a bit.
Red Rising - not got anywhere to put this into the challenge right now. I enjoyed this but not sure if I plan to continue in the series, definitely not straight away
Currently reading:
Assassin's Quest - keen to finish out this trilogy. It's my first experience of Robin Hobb. I do enjoy fantasy so was keen to have read some of her work.
Middlemarch - slowly working through this one in the background
QOTW:
I read exclusively from the library so I aim to read the books I'm most excited about that are available as I can get my hands on them. I find library availability and popularity already rations out books I want to read without me having to do it as well.
I'm a real mood reader though so what I'm excited about often changes. I'll often get to the end of a long hold wait and then think hmmm don't want to read that haha.
Nadine wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I've reported message 185 for spam."I deleted it. Honestly I'm not sure if it's better to leave it there for GR to see or just delete it?
almost every day with these spammers!!! ..."
Nadine, Looks like you'll be deleting all day.... "Jennifer Slater" has spammed every one of our Pop Sugar threads, I can see it on my updates. What a pain in the ass. You can just go to the readers page and report her from there.
I have to confess that I've reached the point where I am sick and tired of being sick. I did have the opportunity to see a doctor back on Monday, and I am on antibiotics, but they don't seem to be doing much good. This week has involved a lot more sleeping on the couch than reading, but I did manage to complete a few Reading Challenge prompts this week.Finished:
House of Salt and Sorrows - "A book published the month of your birthday..."
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - "A bildungsroman..."
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return - "A bildungsroman..." (continued)
If you're interested in my thoughts on these books, you can find them at https://theunapologeticbookworm.com/2....
Currently Reading:
Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
A Clash of Kings
Imaginary Friend
QOTW:
Other than titles that I have to wait for at the library, I typically don't reserve books for later in the year. My approach to the Reading Challenge is to read whatever I like, when I like, and fit books into categories when I can.
Mod
I deleted it. Honestly I'm not sure if it's better to leave it there for GR to see or just delete it?
almost every day with these..."
yeah, "she" posted 16 times. I got them all (except for one: for some reason, my computer times out when I'm trying to delete a comment from a really long post - I flagged that one).
there is this loophole in reporting profiles to GR. The link to report the profile is attached to the profile picture. These spammers know that, so they don't add a profile pic. So there's no link. So I can't easily report them.
Yes, I complained to GR about that a few years ago. You can see all the changes they've made. [eyeroll]
My start of this year is really slow. I find I do not have the time I wish I had to read. Mostly it is my Cajun hubby constantly needing opinions on whatever he is doing which interrupts my thought process in whatever I am doing at the time. I will get straightened out, I have faith. I am presently reading The Sunday Potluck Club by Melissa Storm. Most of my books I have to read will cover the Advanced section of PS reading challenge and will all fit into the other 3 challenges (GR, CFR, and BN book club) and fit nicely into my personal goal of 250 books this year. Later this year I will be reading series that are very fast reads so that will put a bunch of books (9 or more) into one week.QOTW
Typically, I read whatever one that fits my mood. This year, however, I am holding some easy reads for later in the year to fill in for places I just can't find a book I like to fit that category!
PopSugar: 1/50GoodReads: 1/100
Finished:
1.) The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Prompt #34 - Book I meant to read in 2019)
Currently Reading:
1.) Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time
2.) The Boxcar Children
3.) No Exit
QOTW
I'm usually always behind with book club selections and challenge selections, I rarely read what I really want to in the moment. I try to fit these in when I get to a break in the other "assigned" reads. I also made a mental rule that I will only participate in BC or Challenge reads if the book is already on my TBR. I definitely get TBR anxiety where I'm never going to read everything and try to be more selective with books I add to it.
Nadine wrote: "Moral to the story: Never be afraid to try the stupid thing."Love this Nadine!
Mod
Love this Nadine!"
LOL It was super true! I couldn't believe he would insult me by suggesting such a stupid thing hahahahah then it turned out he was correct to try it :-)
IN OTHER NEWS I have a literal leaning tower of library books stacked up next to my bed, but that didn't stop me from checking out a few more today including my FIRST BOOK I TOUCHED!!! My library was remodeled a few months ago and today was the first time my younger daughter had seen it, so while we were strolling through, I told my kids I would close my eyes and they could lead me to a shelf. My daughter even spun me around a few times so I had no idea where I was. I just told her to pick a fiction shelf. She chose M, I don't know why, I think because it started at L and her name is Lily? And she saw a book w/ a cupcake on it so she directed me to that part of the shelf.
I did not touch the cupcake book, though. I ended up with:
Lazaretto
by Diane McKinney-WhetstoneI've never heard of this book or author, but it looked decent, and it's not part of a series (that had been my fear) so I borrowed it. When I got home I looked it up and it gets good reviews!! I'm excited!
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It feels more like April here than January. Originally from northwest Maine, I admit I'm craving the snow.You all read so much in a week!
Nothing finished this week, but I'm half way through:
The Follower by Koethi Zan. For "book with same title as movie, but unrelated:. It's a much slower burn than her debut novel, and there are fewer trigger warnings, which isn't saying much, considering the territory she covers in her writing. It's gritty suspense, and I like the changing POVs.
Harvest by Tess Gerritsen for medical thriller. Loving the medical storyline and the life of the up-and-coming surgeon MC. The corruption and Russian mafia storyline is dragging for me, though.
QOTW
I like to save some "scary reads for October, and holiday-themed books for the Solstice holidays.
Other than that, my reading is primarily dictated by library holds coming through. I usually have a couple books in the works at a time. One for the commute and one for at home. I have a couple of ruptured vertebral discs, so the book for the commute can't be too heavy, unfortunately. The heavier books, whether thick hard covers or flat-out tomes, are for home - and a space to spread out.
FinishedFour-and-Twenty Blackbirds: A Short Story It is a short story, but i felt it lacked the build up and suspense.
The Outsiders Even though this is set decades in the past it still resonates with social and class issues we still struggle with today.
Currently reading:
IlluminaeI am enjoying it so far. I like the format of notes and messages.
Rogues listening to on audio. as with any anthology some stories are better than others.
Tracy wrote: "Carmen wrote: " THE BINDING *shrieks*...."LOL, Carmen, You are the first person I thought of when I picked it up :-)"
I HAVE NO REGRETS!
Drakeryn wrote: "This is super impressive to me. I'm bad at listening to things in general, but especially when doing something that requires concentration like drawing. I'd probably wind up focusing on my art and then realize that 10 minutes have passed since I heard a word of the book."My drawings don't require so much concentration, at least not in the way that would take from the listening. It just works well together for me!
Sarah wrote: "This is so cool (and cute!). My focus with all my reathons is to use my owned books first, so I'm definitely signing up!"Yay! Good luck & have fun! Perhaps I'll see you in the Discord?
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Victims' Club (other topics)The Girl in the Spider's Web (other topics)
Murder on the Orient Excess (other topics)
Der Mephisto-Deal (other topics)
A Gathering of Shadows (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Terry Pratchett (other topics)Jeffrey Eugenides (other topics)
Ruth Goodman (other topics)
L.M. Montgomery (other topics)
Marie Brennan (other topics)
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Force Collector by Kevin Shinick (no prompt)
I was curious about the concept behind this book, but it ultimately was pretty unfulfilling. Nothing in it is bad, and I finished it, so it gets a mild 3/5 rating. The most exciting parts were Karr meeting with Maz Kanata and a brief moment where Maize is forced by circumstance to take a speeder ride on Karr's lap. They visit one of the planets seen in The Rise of Skywalker, but it is set before The Force Awakens and does not add much to the overall story of the sequel trilogy.
Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse (a book by an author with flora or fauna in their name (the HORSE in her name), a book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character, a book you meant to read in 2019, a book from a series with more than 20 books)
This book is great and a solid 4/5 from me. We see a lot of familiar faces from old and new films and the other ancillary materials. There are also a few original characters who make strong debuts here: the warlord, the party hostess, and the people in the records office in particular.
The book is set shortly after The Last Jedi (a few days to weeks after), and it does a great job of both setting up the new status quo and getting into the heads of all the point of view characters. At 300 pages, it is a fast read. However, there is a lot going on in terms of plot and theme, no word is wasted, and the story was just as long as it needed to be to make its points without fluff or padding. There are a few nice connections to the Star Wars books of Claudia Gray in there, too. I recommend Resistance Reborn to any Star Wars fan.
Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love ed. Elsie Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond (An anthology, a book with a map)
I give it 3/5 stars. The standout for me was "The Grand Ishq Adventure" by Sandhya Menon. I liked what it had to say, and the ending was uplifting. The best of the rest came from Rebecca Roanhorse and Karuna Riazi. There was one story that was written entirely in second person. Outside of instruction manuals, this does not work for me 99% of the time.
PS progress: 15/50 with plenty of double-dipping
QOTW:
For each prompt, I have one or more books that I am excited to read or at least optimistic about. I let Excel randomly choose a few prompt lines, and I will get a batch from the library. From there, I read in the order my mood or the number of possible renewals dictate.
If I need to wait for a hold, I can always dip in to my Star Wars, Star Trek, or other TBR titles.
Currently reading: 2 Kings
The Divided Kingdom era of Biblical/Jewish history is fascinating. I wish at least some time would have been spent on at least a high-level overview of some of this in my religious education. Some combination of the version I'm reading (New Living Translation) and reading in larger chunks has helped me make more connections and follow more threads than on my previous read through the Bible.