Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2021 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 5: 1/29 - 2/4
I noticed my Nick and Charlie linked worked, even though it didn't come up while looking for it, so tip, if you have the time and are willing to do the effort :P Add a book, any book, to your message. Replace the title, and change the code to the code of your book (can be found in the GR link, which can be found through 'My Books' if the search bar won't find it either) and TADA!
QotWI don't really need to read the original, unless I feel I'll be totally confused. A lot of books that get retold are already so well known in pop culture that I get the references (Jane Eyre, for instance) or I've seen the movie version a million times (Pride and Prejudice). Sometimes the retelling will make me want to read the original, though. I read The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White a few years ago, and it made me really want to read the original for myself. It's going to be my "anonymous author" book this year!
Hi all! Buried in over a foot of snow here! And since I'm still on activity/weight lifting restrictions, I didn't have to move it! (poor Boyfriend). Otherwise, more of the same, doctor appointments, scheduling doctor appointments, blood work, covid test (negative, it's just a cold, but everyone freaks out....) etc. I swear, this kidney thing is a full time job! (I'm not complaining, but it is a lot of work!)I actually finished a book this week! Day of Tears for a black and white cover and BHM. Oh man, it's short, it's geared towards Middle Grade readers, but not gonna lie, it caused me to shed a few tears, too.
Otherwise, yes, you guessed it, I'm still chipping away on The Magic Mountain. I took a few days off with the cold I didn't have the mental energy to tackle it, but I'll be right back in there tonight or tomorrow.
QOTW: Yay! My question! Sooo I'm super jealous that the rest of you don't seem to suffer from my compulsion. Lol. I didn't used to, but maybe the last 5 years or so, I can't bring myself to read anything that's even based on something else without reading the original. And then if the original is some big old tome like Anna Karenina, by the time I'm done with the original, I don't want to read a retelling/based on book! (#firstworldbookproblems) Fairy tales and myths I can be a little looser with because I usually know the basic story line, but I still haven't gotten around to reading Ophelia because I haven't gotten around to reading Hamlet... sigh....
:D
Finished nothing this week. In my defense: my current read has over 600 pages. And is from the ‘60 with very old-fashioned language. I like it, but it takes a bit more time. On total trivial stuff: there’s ice-fever all over the country: we might (I repeat: MIGHT) have ice on our canals and lakes and ice rinks. And it even MIGHT be thick enough to skate on it safely with hundreds and thousands of people. Because that's what we do. We get crazy, go on the ice and skate. And we get snow. Lots of snow, about 20 cm. Which is very unusual. It's not a good thing if you want ice, but we like to forget that. Luckily, where I live we only get about 4 cm, so we’re okay😀. Anyway, it is a good distraction from all the covid-19 horror the television blasts out these days.
4/40
Currently reading
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
QOTW
If you see a book is a retelling or based on another book, do you feel compelled to read the original first?
No. But I want to read it if the retelling is very good or very bad.
We finally had a bare peek of sunshine today, which is to say it's been a week since we've seen it. It's been raining nonstop, so the river near me is constantly swelling and retracting. Up next is snow as we head into what is 'winter break II' or 'ski break'. Read
Norwegian Wood - finished this for prompt 17. I listened to the song a few times though as it is featured throughout the book and is the impetus for the main character's memory flashback. I thought it so-so as book, though I get why it's often critically acclaimed. I needed something more cheerful after.
When Stars Are Scattered - for prompt 35 - a book in a format different to what I normally read. I can't say I'm a big graphic novel reader, so I picked this up for our school's Battle of the Books. It was fabulous. It's a co-written and illustrated story of a young refugee boy from Somalia living in one of Kenya's massive refugee camps. It's Omar's life story - and it'll make you cry with joy.
One by One for prompt 13 - a locked room mystery. The set-up in the French Alps and with the avalanche feature is little close to home at the moment as many of our cantons face avalanche warnings due to high snowfall ... so this one had me going. Found it a bit obvious as to who the killer was, but still one I read to the end to see how it all fit.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 - for prompt 42, the shortest book by pages on my TBR list [162 pages]. Short but a mighty punch, mostly about the massive gender gap issues in South Korea. Kim Jiyoung is an 'everywoman' in the traditional sense who embodies the voices of all the women in her generation struggling with the same issues. So many times it made me relate and also want to rage against the system. The absolutely tone-deaf psychiatrist at the end is just the icing on the proverbial cake.
Nothing seems to be linking properly for me today! Gagh!
Reading: Akata Witch for the africanfuturist prompt; may get working on my longest book by pages on my TBR list, which is Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. Or, I may pick up American Dirt or Shuggie Bain, both of which I want to get to soon.
QotW
I do like to have the context of the original story. Sometimes it's a nice surprise to read a book and go, oh, that's based on such and such. Hopefully it's a good rewrite! Other times I read a book and think I should then go back and read the inspiration behind it. Ruth Ware writes a lot like Agatha Christie and and Henry James, and I feel like I should read those eventually. Or re-read, in some cases.
Progress 5/20 <- I halved the challenge for myself because I've never read this many books in a year (except in school).
It's my first time posting an update in one of these thread! Hello everyone! Hope February is off to a good start for everyone. It's snowing here in Chicago for the second time in a week. Freezing but good, cozy reading weather.
QOTW
I usually don't read the original if I read a retelling. Though, I don't think I've read a ton of retellings at all really. I do sometimes look up original works if it's mentioned in a book. I don't have a very good base for mythological references especially. I'd like to understand them more but I'm never sure where to start, seems overwhelming.
Completed This Week
Turtles All the Way Down - I enjoyed this quite a lot. I thought the representation of OCD and anxiety was well done. I also liked the relationship between the main character and her mother. I wish certain parts of the novel had been expanded upon; though it may just be I'm getting too old for this style of YA? Very quick read though!
Currently Reading
Wilder Girls by Rory Power- I'm doing this on audiobook. It was slow to get into but I'm liking it better in the middle. It's the first book in this challenge which I would never pick up on my own. I don't like the sci-fi/adventure story YA subtype. And I find the characters rough to empathize with. But I thought it'd be interesting to read something pandemic based? This is my "dark academia" book since it's set at a boarding school. 
- I'm glad I've found a way to squeeze self-help into this challenge because I love self-help type books. I only just started but love how accessible this one is. Plus it has little activities! This is my book for "fresh starts/do-overs".
Elaine wrote: "QotWI don't really need to read the original, unless I feel I'll be totally confused. A lot of books that get retold are already so well known in pop culture that I get the references (Jane Eyre,..."
Was that published anonymously? I never knew! I am quite stumped on that prompt to be honest haha!
Harmke wrote: "Finished nothing this week. In my defense: my current read has over 600 pages. And is from the ‘60 with very old-fashioned language. I like it, but it takes a bit more time. On total trivial stuf..."
If people really do flock to the ice like that.. imagine the riots if the police shows up! Man it's such a mess over here these days.
Did you see about the temperature feeling like -20C up there this weekend? NO THANK YOU! I'm happy with the 4-5cm we're supposed to get down here xD
Mod
On total trivial stuf..."
Parts of the Great Lakes are freezing over here! I've seen video of people walking on Lake Superior. And our Finger Lakes are starting to freeze (if one can count little Onondaga Lake as the smallest finger, it's all white). My mother even sent me photos of the Barnegat Bay frozen over in NJ, which is particularly surprising since that's salt water and NJ doesn't usually get so cold. A river otter was spotted on the bay ice.
Carmen wrote: "Elaine wrote: "QotWI don't really need to read the original, unless I feel I'll be totally confused. A lot of books that get retold are already so well known in pop culture that I get the referen..."
Mary Shelly published it anonymously at first, but she revealed herself as the author in the second edition, I think. It seems many people had assumed her husband, poet Percy Shelly, was the true author and they were displeased to find that a women had written the book. She'd feared that people would have that reaction, so I think that's why she stayed anonymous at first. It's so sad that she had to go through that! I can't imagine not putting my name on a book I had written, and then having people assume a man wrote it--even if he was my husband lol But thankfully we know her name now and can celebrate her brilliance! :)
Elaine wrote: "Mary Shelly published it anonymously at first, but she revealed herself as the author in the second edition, I think. It seems many people had assumed her husband, poet Percy Shelly, was the true author and they were displeased to find that a women had written the book."Ohh I didn't know that! Good on her for taking the credit and fuck anyone who gave her shit for it!
Good afternoon! It's snowing and blowing here again. It had just started up a little while ago so I'm glad I'm inside. I can sit here in my chair and enjoy looking out the window while reading my books, have some tea. Popsugar challenge: 31/100 (double challenge)
Bingo:19/25
Question: do I want to read the original first? No... If it's a book in a series I might (if it's required for the plot) but just a retelling? No.. offhand I can't really think of a book that's a retelling, unless you mean a fairy tale?
Finished Books:
Westward Weird mixed genre. This is an anthology of western cowboy type stories mixed with horror and sometimes science fiction. I had enjoyed most of them but a few I had thought were boring or they had confused me.
Piranesi about Forgetting... Boy, I really loved this book!! It was just so unique and mysterious! And I really felt compelled to keep reading to find out what was actually going on. And I actually liked the cover on this one too and I'm very fussy when it comes to covers. I don't think I've ever read anything like this before.
What is up with the pop-up to make the book links?? Suddenly it can't find the books I've read! It's giving me all different ones BUT the ones I've read! 😛 For the one book it only gave me one book and it was the wrong one!
Ghost Boys: Black Lives Matter. This is the bright red book with the young african american boy on the cover. This was a wonderful but sad story about a young boy who is shot by the police because he was playing with a toy gun. He dies and he becomes a ghost. The story is actually two stories in one... One about how he got the toy while he was alive and what happens when he is a ghost. It's a YA book.
A Good Kind of Trouble. Black Lives Matter. I absolutely LOVED this book!! And even though I'm an adult I could relate so much to the main character in here! The story is about a 7th grade girl and how she gets along at school with others, often not really understanding her classmates. And at the same time she learns about the protests and has to decide is it ok to wear a black armband when her principal tells everyone is against school rules. This book has a bright pink background with a girl with a backpack.
The Indigo Ghosts: broken item on the cover (the ship's hull is broken with holes in it). The cover shows two three masted frigates with the sails down on the ocean. This was a fun murder mystery set in 1604 and the main character is a doctor. His former captain calls him to the ship where it is moored at Plymouth England to help with a unique situation: the ship has a strange presence on it and they have seen blue ghosts. It's a mix of supernatural and using logic to solve a mystery. This is the third book in a series but I hadn't known that when I read it and had no problems at all. Great book! I'll read the others too to find out what else Dr Gabriel was up to! I also used this book for my Bingo challenge!
The Only Good Indians. No challenge here... but one could use it for an indigenous author. I really didn't like this book. I found parts of the story confusing and the plot just didn't interest me. I did like the end. I also learned a lot about elk in here. I had thought "that looks like a deer on the cover...why are they saying it's an elk?".... But then I found out that elk is a type of deer! The author and the story is about a group of Blackfeet who go elk hunting and it's about revenge. I think one issue I had with the book was too much chitchat that didn't drive the plot forward.
American Street: read for black history month but no particular challenge.. this is another book I didn't like. It's a YA book with a white cover and a girl's head in a colored silhouette. The author was born in Haiti and the main character goes from haiti to Detroit. But the cousins in here were just SO annoying I couldn't stand it! They were treating the MC bad, giving an underage girl alcohol at clubs and just doing lots of things I could not approve of in a YA book..
The Witcher series: Lady of the Lake. I found this book to be a huge disappointment! It's like the author forgot everything that was going on in the plot or something.. no real adventures in here. Very boring. But I finished it!
So far I've read 3 books for black history month...I'll probably read a few more yet.
Currently Reading:
The thing is STILL not working! 😤
Pegasus by Robin McKinley. For my bingo challenge and because I love horses! This is the story of a princess and the pegasus Ebon who she is bonded to. So far it's wonderful! The cover shows a grassy field with a black pegasus flying up in the sky and a princess down at the bottom wearing a long gown. The title is in the middle of the book is dark red letters.
Death By Dumpling by Vivian Chien. Another o e for my bingo challenge! And this book is fun! It's a murder mystery. Set in a mall that is all about Asian stuff and the MC works at an Asian restaurant.. the big boss who owns the mall was killed by a shrimp dumpling and he was allergic to shrimp. But the restaurant knew and was always super careful with his food. So how did it happen?? The cover shows a box of takeout asian noodles with a dumpling and a packet of hot sauce.
I'm also going to be starting on some February challenge in another group: February Scavenger challenge - Romantic Paintings. I already have the 10 books picked out that I will read for this. And there is a group read in Creature Creature group too.
I hope goodreads fixes the thing! Because I couldn't find the books I wanted to link to. At first it was working and then it wasn't!
Added: it's Saturday morning now, 7:30 am here and it seems that goodreads has fixed the thing so I have added links now to the books but have otherwise left my post the way it was...glad they fixed it.
Sarah wrote: "Good afternoon! It's snowing and blowing here again. It had just started up a little while ago so I'm glad I'm inside. I can sit here in my chair and enjoy looking out the window while reading my b..."I am still so angry over Tamir being shot, so reading that description of Ghost Boys had my heart pounding. I added it to my TBR immediately!
A Good Kind of Trouble sounds really good, too! Added as well!
Heard such amazing things about Piranesi I might have to bump it up to priority-TBR!
Mod
I read this book the year before! I really enjoyed it and boy did I really want dumplings while I read it hahah!!! I'm going to read the third book in this series for "set in a restaurant" this year.Murder Lo Mein (this book link did not actually show up in the search, but four other books by Chien did. Weird. And I hope it gets fixed soon.)
Mod
Our developers are aware of the delay with books appearing under search results and are working on fixing this. While I don't have a firm date for the fix, this bug is prioritized in our development team's backlog – we know how important it is to be able to find the books you're looking for.
Let's hope they fix it soon! My workaround might work, but it's a lot of effort having to google the book if it's not on my shelves just to get the code xD
I finally get to go back to work tomorrow. I've completed my COVID quarantine and have felt really good for the last 4/5 days. I still don't have my sense of taste and smell back completely but I've read that can take some time. I didn't think I would be so happy to go to work. Finished Reading:
Since I was working from home all week I was able to get through three audiobooks.
Caste - The Origins of Our Discontents for a book on a Black Lives Matter reading list. I'm glad I finally picked this up. It is so well written and so informative. I highly recommend.
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex - Ashley from Bookishrealm highly recommend this one so I picked it up right away. I didn't know a lot about the Asexual community and I feel like I took a lot from this read. The author also Asexual and it was interesting hearing her story.
Kindred (can't get the add book search to work properly)- I'm so glad I finally read this one. I loved it and now need to read more from Octavia E. Butler.
The Kingdom of Copper for a book by a Muslim American author. I just finished this one like an hour ago. I loved it. I will be starting the final book in the series tonight, I need to know what happens next.
Currently Reading:
Anna Karenina for a book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time. I'm still slowly working my way through this one with the Reddit subreddit. I'm really enjoying it so far.
The Water Dancer - Not sure what prompt I'll use this for. I just started it today on audio. I really like the narrator so far and the first part of the book is interesting.
Every Last Fear - I have the eARC of this one and started it a couple of nights ago. I'm not sure what I feel about it yet. I don't love it, not sure if I like it but I'm going to give it a few more chapters.
The Empire of Gold for a book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title. Haven't started reading this yet but I know I'm going to start it tonight.
QOTW:
I'm actually not really interested in a retelling if I haven't read the original book. I love knowing the source material. I will read any Pride and Prejudice retelling and will always be mad at Lizzy for her blind belief in Wickham...every gosh darn time.
Carmen wrote: "Elaine wrote: "Mary Shelly published it anonymously at first, but she revealed herself as the author in the second edition, I think. It seems many people had assumed her husband, poet Percy Shelly,..."Amen to that! :) Lol
Morning all!This week I read:
The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After, which was a book I saw on someone else's bookshelf. Specifically, my mother's bookshelf and I stole it away to read it. This was a quick, sweet read covering the Bridgertons' lives after their respective novels finished. A nice way to end the month.
Factory 19 by Dennis Glover (which is not coming up in the search). This was for the fresh starts prompt. I was considering not finishing it at the start, but I'm very glad I persevered. An interesting look at why we can't go back in time, but also the lessons we can learn from the past.
Currently Reading:
The Handmaid's Tale for the book everyone else has read. I've found it hard to get into and I'm not sure I always like Atwood's writing style, but I'm determined to finish.
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl. If I read one short story a day, I'll still be going in two months. So far it's... not unexpected? I wondered if the tales were more shocking when he originally wrote them (the book was first published in 1979, and many of the stories came from earlier anthologies). I'm hoping it gets better.
Kindred by Kirli Saunders. This is a book of poetry, so will count for my book in a format I don't usually read.
QOTW
Coincidentally, I read the graphic novel of The Handmaid's Tale last year, so I'm currently reading the original. However, I don't usually feel a need to look for the source material, whether it's a classic or a modern tale.
Nadine wrote: "Lauren wrote: "... Also, how do you mention characters being in Central Texas in August (or other months) and not have one mention of the heat? ..."I love romance novels, but that sort of thing ..."
Yes, we can still get temperatures in the 100s in October here, so leaving a cat in the car is not okay. The other points you mention also sound problematic... thanks for sharing! As I'm working on my first novel I'm terrified about "getting something wrong," so it helps to have some reminders of common mistakes that show up in books. ;)
Good evening from a very windy Oklahoma! This week has been much better than last in terms of reading! Finished Reading:
Along Came a Spider by James Patterson - fulfills PopSugar #10 - A bestseller from the 1990s. It was published in 1993. I'm also doing the ABC challenge, so this is the A book I completed.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor - fulfills PopSugar #2 - an afrofuturist book. This was the B book for the alphabet challenge.
Candy Cane Murder by Joanne Fluke - this was not for the PopSugar challenge. I enjoy these cozy mysteries and baking, and it was a short novella that fit in between book 9 & 10 in the series of Hannah Swenson. However this is my C book for the alphabet challenge.
Currently Reading:
Evil Thing by Serena Valentino - this is part of a series of books written about the Disney villains. I've already read the books about the Beast & the evil queen in Snow White. They are a quick, fun read and takes you on a journey through the eyes of the "bad guys."
Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History's Mightiest Matriarchs by Jason Porath - my daughter gave me this book as a Christmas gift. It has several stories of different women that were mothers and did brave and heroic things in their lives. Very interesting and learning a lot!
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O'Brien - just started this one a couple of days ago. So far I'm very interested in the history of women in aviation.
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzalez - I'm listening to this as an audiobook. I will be finished by tomorrow, but didn't make it to this week! Very interesting perspective about how and why some people survive and others don't.
Working on the categories/challenges for these books. I will include once I finish them.
QOTW:
Nope, I don't think I've ever gone back and read the original story. At least not that I can think of at this point.
Mod
If you see a book is a retelling or based on another book, do you feel compelled to read the original first?
Answer: No, not really. I would actually say I'm more likely to read the retelling first, and then read the original."
Yeah, I guess the sequence doesn't matter.
Mod
If you see a book is a retelling or based on another book, do you feel compelled to read the original first?
Answer: No, not really. I would actually say I'm more likely to read the retelling first, and then read the original"
You know, I have found that if the writing appeals to me enough, knowing the "ending" isn't a big deal--it's still fun to read the story!
Mod
The 50's?!? I would LOVE the 50's! It was 34 degrees here today and is supposed to only get to 28 degrees tomorrow. Since we got some sleet, freezing rain, and rain this afternoon and still this evening, it will be nothing but an ice rink on my backroads tomorrow morning. *sigh*
"I also finished The Holdout which is for the TBR you meant to read last year. I totally forgot this was on my kindle. I thought it was a real page turner and very fun to read."
I thought this looked like one I might enjoy.
"QOTW: If I haven't read the first book already, then I won't read the retelling."
Fair enough. Very disciplined! :)
Mod
Honestly, I majored in English so I’ve read a ton of the “classics” and those that I haven’t read, I have a good grasp on the original and didn’t read it for a reason. I’m looking at you Moby Dick"
It cracks me up how many people hate on MD! Granted it has been 35 years since I read it, but I didn't find it all that terrible--just boring! :)
Mod
I've been having this problem! Just now when I tried to link to Wuthering Heights , I had to scroll through about five titles before I got to it. (I just tried it again, and one of the titles is off the top of the list).
THIS IS VERY ANNOYING, GOODREADS!!"
Yep! It was still doing it to me later today. I hope they fix it!
Happy check-in! I definitely had some trouble with cabin fever this past week. It's finally acting like winter here a.k.a. -20C with Windchill . Curb-side at the library and a grocery trip have done wonders though.For those who need a laugh. My local university has an ad on tv from the alumni association in which they spell achievement wrong. I before e except after c. 🤦♀️
Finished Reading:
Wicked King and Queen Of Nothing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I love this series so it was very easy to convince me to buddy read.
The Silver Kiss ⭐⭐⭐
I love Blood and Chocolate by the same author so much that when a friend was talking about loving this one instead of Twilight I was curious. This was first published in the 90s so the library ebook had two extra short stories thrown in all about cat love. This is a decent book where a teenager falls in love with a vampire. There were moments of idiot Bella and Creepy Edward but it actually dealt with grief/loss/loneliness well.
Hidden Huntress ⭐⭐⭐
Book two in a ya fantasy series. This had about a hundred pages too many for me. The main character was just too slow in figuring things out that I got stalled a bit in the middle.
Tales From The Hinterland ⭐⭐ (2017 mentioned in another book)
I read The Hazel Wood duology and was always more interested in the fairy tales the author created so I was looking forward to this collection. It was a bit disappointing because every story was either about girls getting married off and it going bad or bad mothers so it was boring. Also the author was doing a good job of creating dark stories but it always became clear when she held back to keep it ya.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Short Stories, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐
This was decent because I loved this show as a child. (Should I have? Probably not) I realize I didn't watch the show regularly enough to understand who the second/little sailor moon is but the stories were cute enough. It lost a star for the last page when the author ruined a character for no reason. 😒
Attachments ⭐⭐ (2017 a book of letters)
This was disappointing rom com. I am trying to use things already in my tbr for prompts so a book that half emails was the closest for this prompt. This has 89 chapters and it goes back and forth between the guy and the girl's emails. Set in the 90s right before y2k Lincoln is in IT nightshift at a newspaper. He is suppose to go through employee correspondence when it gets flagged and warn people. Instead he reads this women's emails to her best friend and falls for her. The emails in the book are hilarious and made me laugh out loud and be addicted to the book. The guy was depressing/little bit creepy and needed to stand up to his mother!
PS 2021 5/50
PS 2017 11/52
goodreads 30/200
Currently Reading:
House Of Blood And Earth (if you want to work in a art gallery)
QOTW:
I don't think I've ever felt the need to read the original before the retelling. I read a ton of retellings but I usually find that out after the fact. I also end up watching a lot of movies before reading the book so I'm used to not worrying about that.
I finished one book this week, which I used for a prompt, and continued working on two long book club books for the shortest month of the year (funny how that worked out! 🤣). I'm enjoying both of them, but am glad I started both of them earlier than I normally do for book club reads. It's made it easier to read them at a more deliberate pace and focus. I'm at 2/40 and 1/10 for this challenge, and have read 7/100 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge. Finished:
* Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, which I'm using for "an Afrofuturist book." I'm also planning to participate in the group read discussion thread. I lucked out with my library hold and got to read it while the snow and ice storms came through earlier in the week. Reading on the couch was much more fun than shoveling the walk and cleaning off my vehicle...twice! 🤪
Currently Reading:
* Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Goodreads is giving me odd results when I click on "add book/author," so I can link to the right author, but not the right book. Weirdness. 🤔); and,
* Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis.
QotW:
This week’s question comes from Jennifer!
If you see a book is a retelling or based on another book, do you feel compelled to read the original first? Nope. There have been times when I wished that I had read the original first to get more out of the reading experience, but I haven't set a retelling aside to go back and read the original first.
Mod
As well you should be! Congratulations on the grant to buy more library books and on the new shipment you just received!
"Some children's books I read were Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, I Am Jazz, and I Am Every Good Thing. These were all great reads but I absolutely adored I Am Every Good Thing. If you're looking for a #BlackBoyJoy book for this month, I cannot recommend this enough. It amazes me sometimes how so much emotion and social conscience can be squeezed into a children's book. And the illustrations are amazing."
I definitely need to get I Am Every Good Thing for my grandkids!
"QOTW: So as I mentioned with the Little Women retelling, I would have liked the book more if I hadn't read the original. That said, I don't normally seek out the original before I read a retelling, but typically if I enjoyed the original, I'll seek out retellings (if that makes sense!)."
That makes total sense to me! :) (But I may not be a good judge... LOL)
Happy Thursday everyone! I had a rough morning at work and took a quick "nap" after teaching that turned into a 3.5 hour nap and me waking up at 1pm with nothing done! Oops. But I guess I needed it. I spent the weekend at my mom's house after having completed my goal of getting my island and other cabinet painted, which means I got to bring my cat back home. It's good to have her back here with me, even if she does just sleep all day. I shamefully just now took down my Christmas ornaments, tree coming down tomorrow. December didn't go quite as planned so I didn't get to enjoy my tree as much as I'd wanted, so I decided to leave it up through the end of January. Because why not?
This week/last month I achieved my goal of finishing Tuesdays with Morrie and Anxious People over the weekend, which put me at 9 books total for January. I binge read Binti on the first (not a fan) and read the first book of Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu (I can't get it to properly link for some reason).
I'm currently listening to The Guest List and recently saw a post on IG about how people listen to audiobooks on 1.2 or 1.5 speed... GENIUS. I'm going to try it tomorrow.
I'm also currently reading Get a Life, Chloe Brown for a monthly read of one of the Facebook groups I'm in.
QOTW: Not really. I don't pay much attention to those type things.
Mod
Ha! Ha! No kiddin'! I just searched for I Am Every Good Thing" and it pulled up one title: Good Guys and Bad Guys: Behind the Scenes with the Saints and Scoundrels of American Business WTH?
"Books read this week:
Dark Matter -- not for the challenge. I’ve been dragging my feet getting started on a Blake Crouch book, but now I wonder why I waited so long. This was an exciting and nicely accessible quantum-fiction thriller that I can easily see being made into a movie at some point."
I have yet to read one of his as well...
"QOTW:
Most of the time the "retellings" or "remakes" I read are of fairy tales or mythology, so I'm already familiar enough with the source material that I don't feel the need to go back and reread it (unless I think I've forgotten important details). Otherwise.... I imagine I'd read the remake first, then go back and read the original."
Another vote for the retelling first, then the original. :)
Mod
I am jealous! :)
"which I should have used for reading, but filled with binge-watching Supernatural instead (I don’t know how that happened)."
Huh. How strange... :)
"This week I finished (Goodreads isn't letting me link books today, SORRY!)"
Yeah, this is ridiculous!
"And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer: I originally meant to use this for prettiest cover, but after reading it, I had to redo my list so that I could use it for a book about forgetting, because no other book could fit the prompt better; Someone on here warned me that I should wait until I was sure I was ready to read this and now I understand why. As someone who just lost my grandmother a few weeks ago and is watching my grandfather experience the long battle of brain atrophy, I'm not sure if this was the right or wrong time to read this book. I feel like the me from a month ago wouldn't have felt this book the way the me of today did. It was so real and beautiful that it was staggering and I'm not sure how I could stand to read it, but also not sure how I could ever put it down. Fredrik Backman is a gift to the world of readers and there's no place I don't trust him to take me at this point.
I felt the exact same way about this book! And I totally agree with your beautiful sentiment about Backman.
"To Touch the Light: set in a restaurant; I always love when an author presents an LGBT+ character as the main character and not as a side note"
Agreed!
"Currently reading (I can’t stop starting new books."
I swear it's an uncontrollable addiction!! :)
Lauren wrote: "Well I had my surgery on Monday and the pain has been more than I would like (and sleep is challenging), but I'm grateful I've had the week off work to rest. This week I finished:
[book:The Und..."
That sounds unfun. I hope you can get some sleep soon. It's really good that you got in for surgery right away even though recovery is tough.
Carmen wrote: "Hey guys!I am absolutely wiped- the evaluation was at a time I'm generally not awake yet, and even though I was awake all day for all of last week, I have shifted into a rhythm that works better ..."
I hope your furbaby/bunny gets well. I am slightly confused because it's sounds like they live/go outside. (I know nothing about rabbits clearly) Do you not have winter right now?
Happy Thursday. I waited a bit in hopes that the Goodreads glitch would go away, but no such luck. So yeah, I went through and got the links to work the long way, because I'm obsessive like that.Books I finished:
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots ⭐⭐⭐ - I picked this up and couldn't put it down, but after it left me feeling icky. I might end up bumping this down to a 2 star read.
Dead Heat & Hopcross Jilly #1-6 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for both) - Continuing my Mercy Thompson reread.
Yes Please ⭐⭐⭐ - I've been meaning to read this since I read Tina Fey's book. It was funny and interesting, but nothing special as far as these things go.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Short Stories, Vol. 2 ⭐⭐⭐ - I'm getting through reading all these. This one was a little more confusing then the last one.
Books I made progress on:
The Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Monarch
QOTW
I look at retellings like movies - and I'm just as likely to watch the movie first. If I haven't already read the story that's being retold, there is probably a reason, so reading a retelling can actually push me to read the original more then if I waited. That being said, I'm not always big on retellings, unless I already love the source material.
The book I was looking for earlier today is now showing up in search, but the next book I tried is not, so it's hit or miss currently.Finished:
Star Trek: The Latter Fire by James Swallow (reread for fun) (5/5 stars)
This book embodies the ideals of Star Trek, and it's extremely well-written. If you like the characters from the original series at all, I recommend this completely.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side! by Tom Angleberger (reread, PS: Favorite prompt from a past year: A book with a character that is a robot, cyborg, or AI) (4/5 stars)
I already love Return of the Jedi, and this version of the novelization adds context from the prequels and a few intriguing asides in the footnotes.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (PS: An Afrofuturist book) (2/5 stars)
I liked some of what the author did in this novella, but the scene that put Binti in the bad predicament was too graphically violent for my tastes.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (read for another book club) (3/5 stars)
Ursula Monkton is one of the most effective villains to appear in my reading in quite some time. I love Lettie Hempstock and her family, and some of the scenes and passages are truly wonderful. The squick factor brings it down some, and I would have preferred if the protagonist were given a name.
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (not for a challenge) (3/5 stars)
The first book in the series, A Wizard of Earthsea, is a bit better, but it was nice to revisit the world for a while.
Currently reading:
Star Trek: Picard: The Dark Veil by James Swallow
This is pretty good after about 1/3. It reads a lot like a regular Titan novel that was changed to conform to the established backstory of the Picard series.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
This is the longest book on my TBR, but I am intrigued by what has been established in the opening chapters, so I don't think it will be a slog. You will, however, see this book in Currently Reading for some time.
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Question of the Week:
I do not feel the need to read the original first. An author doing their job well will make everything in their story at least understandable without the need to read other books. I am okay with them putting in nods or references to the original that will please longtime fans if they are not essential.
Hello everyone!Finished
The Night Masquerade - 2. An Afrofuturist book
Clap When You Land - 29. A book set in multiple countries
Truly Devious - 5. A dark academia book
Dream Country - 44. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover
PROGRESS
PS - 7/50 | ATY - 3/52 | RW - 1/24
Currently Reading
The Nightingale
A Storm of Swords
QOTW
Not usually. I think it's the other way around for me. I'd be more compelled to read the original after reading a retelling.
Carmen wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Good afternoon! It's snowing and blowing here again. It had just started up a little while ago so I'm glad I'm inside. I can sit here in my chair and enjoy looking out the window whil..."Carmen, I'm glad you were able to find the books I had read even though I wasn't able to provide the links. Hopefully you'll enjoy them all!
And I hope your bunnies will be ok..I learned lots of stuff from your post on bunnies because I really didn't know anything about them and never dreamed they had to eat so much all of the time! Or that they could get sick so quickly..makes me wonder how in the world they ever survive outside (wild ones I mean) especially in winter when food is scarce. It's always so stressful if your pets are sick.
Nadine wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Death By Dumpling by Vivian Chien. Another o e for my bingo challenge! And this book is fun! It's a murder mystery. Set in a mall that is all about Asian stuff and the MC works at an ..."I just finished Death by Dumpling and while I did not guess the killer I did guess how the switch was made with the dumplings! I'm going to order the second book in the series from my library soon! Of course I have a big stack of library books to read here. Haha.
I saw the second book is about Dim Sum..I had no idea what that was so I had googled it....to find out it was more dumplings! 😅 Should have known!
Oh... While posting on another thread of another group I might have found a workaround to this dumb problem. If you do a search for the author's name in the pop-up thingy, you might eventually find the book you want. Like I was able to find the Death by Dumpling book by doing a search for Vivien Chien ... Except the book was way on page 5?? Of course this is presuming you know the author's name and how to spell it! I keep track of the info on paper but I don't write down the author's name...just the date I finished the book, the title and the page count. And if it's for a challenge, which challenge. And if you already wrote a bunch of stuff here, well, if you leave this text box you lose everything you just wrote!
Because if I do a title search for Death by Dumpling I only get ONE option and it's a book by a different author! I get this author: Hope Callaghan and it should be Vivien Chien ... I wonder how it got so messed up?
But you can do an author search, find the right author and then hit "book" at the top to get books by that person.
... Had to go to page 5 to find the book!
Hello everybody! Hope everyone is doing well. Currently watching The Masked Dancer with my daughter. I will go with anything that gets her to want to hang out with me...#teenagers*Did anybody else have problems with the add book feature? It's acting up for me after the 3rd book. Very odd. I had to switch up searching by author and went through 14 pages to find Kindred!
10/40 Regular
3/10 Advanced
19/75 Total
Finished:
Interesting continuation of The Folk of the Air Trilogy. Fills in some of the holes
32. Starts with q
Loved this whole series
Except this one. 1.5 of The Cruel Prince this was super meh
5. Dark academia
Lots of buildup to nothing
Different format-graphic e-book
This was really cute. Super inclusive and fun story with great graphics
Currently Reading
QotW:
This week’s question comes from Jennifer!
If you see a book is a retelling or based on another book, do you feel compelled to read the original first?
I am going to go with no. I don't like a lot of classic literature. Jane Austin for instance. Great stories but I can't get through them because of the language and honestly they bore me. I know the concepts and stories are amazing though so I would definitely read a retelling.
Nadine wrote: "Definitely not just you. So many people today have been having trouble, just in this post! I checked the Known Issues list for Feb, didn't see this one, so I wrote to GR support this morning. Haven't heard back yet."Thanks, Nadine.
Well it's early Friday, but I'm a bit slow today/yesterday. books I finished this week:
Undiscovered Country Volume 1 Destiny by Scott Snyder and Charles Soule. This is a graphic novel series. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but I really enjoyed it. It's about a group of people going into the United States after it had put a wall up and sealed it's self off from the rest of the world 30 years before the story started. It had a lot of surprises for me. I found out the next volume won't be out until March. I can't wait.
The Princess in black and the Giant Problem (book 8), by Shannon and Dean Hale. I love this early chapter book series. It's about a princess who has becomes a hero and fights monsters. In this one the it's a giant and not a monster. I really enjoy Shannon Hale's books. Most are co-author with her husband.
The Little Prince, by Antione De Saint-Exupery. I had meant to read this last year, but I didn't get to it. It's another book that surprised me as it wasn't what I thought it would be. I enjoyed it though and it was a sweet story about a boy from a different planet. It's probably the shortest book on my TBR list, if you don't count the picture books I plan on reading.
Wild Horse Annie Friend of the mustangs by Tracey Fern. This is a picture book I saw on the library's website and I had to read it. This book was about mustangs and a woman who l love them enough to fight for them. I love horses. This is a book about Wild Horse Annie who through letter campaigns got laws so wild mustangs couldn't be hunted on private or public land. This is an awesome book. The law was passed in 1971( or that seems like the right year). I vaguely remember her and the law she was trying to pass. I was 6 years old at the time. This is a must read for those who love horses and animal rights.
currently reading
Dear Edward, This book has pulled me in, but has been slow reading as some of the books I read this week are due back at the libraries I got them from, so I had to get them done.
I can't really call it reading, but I got Heroes Feast The Official D&D Cookbook from the library and I've been paging through it for recipes I want to try.
I'm planning reading some of the children's books that caught my eye.
QOTW
No. I read retellings or graphic novel versions of classics to see if I'm interested in reading the actual novel. I read a graphic novel of The Great Gatsby, but didn't really like it. It was confusing at times and I read that it skipped over some of the story lines. I found another graphic novel version and will give it a try when I get it from the library.
I've read several versions of Dracula, but not the original though I plan on reading it. I know a lot of the myths and fairy tales and love to see how different people retell the story.
Elaine wrote: "The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang for my book of a different format (a graphic novel ebook). This was so charming and delightful and wholesome! I do wish I'd had a physical copy, as reading graphic novels on the basic Kindle involves a lot of squinting. But I was still able to enjoy the story!"I used a graphic novel, Heartstopper: Volume One, for this prompt as I'd never read one before. I loved it! I'm reading Check, Please! and plan to read The Prince and the Dressmaker next!
Charlotte wrote: "For the challenge, I read Tweet Cute for a book set in a restaurant. This was so cute! I really loved it. I think it would make a great movie, and I'm not usually one to recommend books to be made into movies."Oh exciting! I just put this on my TBR for the same prompt!
Thankfully a quieter work week this week! Although, while none of the days seems to have dragged individually, I could believe last night that it was still only Thursday night! The week as a whole has seemed long...Finished:
The Bedlam Stacks for A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign. Even though this has been on my TBR list for a while, I wasn't sure when I started it that I was going to like it. It's a very odd, atmospheric book - but I ended up finding it really compelling and interesting!
The Shadow Box for A book about art or an artist. A decent enough crime thriller, but the ending felt a bit rushed. And I was happy to find something for this prompt, which I sensed I was going to struggle with.
Started:
The Bookseller's Tale for A book with a black-and-white cover
QOTW:
I can't think of any instances where I've read a retelling and didn't happen to have already read the original book. But I think I probably would try to make sure I read the original first if I came across any retellings where I hadn't, purely so I could appreciate how good a retelling it was :)
Erin wrote: "The Midnight Library- I really liked the concept of this one, it was such an interesting idea. I'm not crazy about the ending thoughPiranesi- "book about forgetting" This was really good. It took me a while to get into it, such a strange little book, but I really liked it!"
These are both on my TBR... very excited about Piranesi! Ive heard the same from others about Midnight Library so it will be interesting to see how I like it.
Mod
LOL I forgot about that! If you mess up the time management, know that there will be a reader like me somewhere out there driven completely to distraction!!
Happy Friday! It's been a really long week. I couldn't post yesterday because Goodreads was being glitchy and not searching for books so I couldn't add them. Hopefully it will work better today. Finished:
The Cousins - I'm a big fan of Karen M. McManus's book, and although this one has mixed reviews I really enjoyed it. I used it for prompt #9 - a book with a family tree. 4 stars
The Project - I haven't read many books involving cults, but when I was approved for an ARC of this one I figured I'd check it out. I thought the premise was interesting, but this was a slow burn and then the ending moved way too fast to the point of being a bit confusing. 3 stars
Things You Save in a Fire - this has been on my TBR for two years, and I finally got to it. Thankfully it was on my best friend's bookshelf which motivated me to read it this year for the challenge so I used it for prompt #12 - a book you have seen on someone's bookshelf. 4 stars
Challenge Progress:
Regular Challenge - 10/40
Advanced Challenge - 1/10
Total - 11/50
Currently Reading:
The Dating Plan - this was my January BOTM pick and although I try to read my main pick in the month, I've been struggling with this one. I'm determined to finish it though!
Wild at Heart - I'm trying to read romance this month because of Valentine's Day so decided to continue this series.
A Curse So Dark and Lonely - I'm rereading the Cursebreakers series with some friends so we can all read A Vow So Bold and Deadly together.
Concrete Rose - I'm also trying to read some books by black authors for Black History Month so just started this one yesterday. I loved The Hate U Give so hoping I enjoy this one just as much.
QOTW - If you see a book is a retelling or based on another book, do you feel compelled to read the original first?
I really enjoy retellings, but I don't feel the need to read the original if I haven't already. For example, I couldn't remember if I read Jane Eyre, but didn't feel the need to read it before I read The Wife Upstairs.
Mod
Finished Reading:
Along Came a Spider by James Patterson - fulfills PopSugar #1..."
I kind of love that you seem to be reading the ABC titles in order. That is deeply satisfying to see. (Although I know I could never discipline myself to stick to the order - maybe that's why it's so satisfying to see someone else do it.)
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
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Same!