Week 14 Check In

[Sheri]

Hi everyone!

Getting some lovely spring, even summer weather in MI this week! Almost hit 80 one day.

I also managed to get an appointment for my first vaccine for the 17th, so woo! Have to drive to Detroit for it, but I'm willing to do that to get safe <3

Book Club

There's the prereading thread up for Once and Future Witches still! I'm on a bit of a wait for digital hold, I might try to see if my library has it in print this weekend. I'll hopefully get it soon and get some questions going.

This week I finished:

The Gilded Ones - I really loved this! Interesting world building, I really liked the story. There was a bit of romance that I didn't think was really necessary, but overall it didn't get too in the way. And there was at least no love triangles. I also appreciated that the ending was nicely wrapped up. There's certainly room for more books, but it didn't end with a cliffhanger and no release date for book 2. I used it for popsugar book seen on someone's shelf, I saw it on someone's goodread shelf. Book nerds - debut novel. ATY- book that refers to characters without saying their names

Dragon Pearl - This was a fun easy read. It's part of Rick Riordan Presents, where he highlights authors from other cultures writing books on their cultures mythology in a sort fo similar fashion to what he does with greek and roman mythology. This one is Korean mythology, but in space. I liked it quite a bit. Used for popsugar book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title, book nerds book written in first person, ATY comfort reading.

The Plotters - This is a Korean thriller about assassins, it was an interesting read. Lots of action. However if you're in the mood for a Korean assassin thriller, DO NOT read the goodreads blurb, or the book blurb itself, if you don't like spoilers. Both of them drop info that doesn't happen until well past the halfway point, which in my mind, are spoilers. One of the things mention is really the central "what is going on" to the whole book, and I was annoyed that I already was anticipating it, due to the blurb. Pet peeve of mine! If something's not mentioned in the first couple of chapters, it shouldn't be in the blurb, in my mind. I used it for popsugar tbr book that reminds me of my favorite person, place, or thing. I got it from Powell's City of Books in Portland. I love Portland, and Powell's is my favorite book store. Book Nerds- book in translation, ATY - mystery or thriller.

Currently reading:

1Q84 - trying to put some time into this. I'm really not loving it, but it fits the longest tbr prompt, and the next few books in the list are a series that's out of order. Also one of the other prompts is a DNF off your TBR so if I quit, then it just becomes eligible for that one. It's not really TERRIBLE so much as it's just so long and I feel like there's not enough story to be justifying how long it is. I'm 440 some pages in, and it feels like barely anything happened. I'm going to finish my chapter and then move onto a new book, not sure what yet. Getting through it by trying to read a few chapters at a time between other books.

QOTW:

Do you have any hidden gem authors or books that you love, but no one else seems to know?

I've seen this on prompts before, and it's the popsugar question this week. I like the idea of hidden gems, but i also don't go out of my way to read random stuff by random authors either. There is a FoE author I enjoyed quite a bit, Under a Blood Moon - fun urban fantasy with a death witch. I'd also gotten a book in bookflood from another FoE author On Both Banks that I enjoyed quite a bit as well.

[Jen W.]

Congrats on getting a vaccine appointment, Sheri! I'm actually kind of jealous; they're hard to come by in WA. I saw my doctor last week, and she asked me why I hadn't gotten it yet since I'm eligible as someone with other health issues. I had to tell her I couldn't get an appointment yet!

I had a couple of finishes this week:

Leigh Bardugo's latest Grishaverse novel, Rule of Wolves - Overall I enjoyed it, but I get way too attached to fictional characters, and there was a secondary character death about 40% into the book that literally had me sobbing. I suppose it's a testament to Bardugo's writing that I cried so hard... and also that I kept going after that. I used this for Popsugar as the longest book on my TBR at ~600 pages.

Cemetery Boys - I just finished this today, and I really enjoyed it. The main character is a trans teenager trying to fit in with his very traditional Latinx family in Los Angeles, plus there's magic and supernatural powers and ghosts in the mix. I used this for my prompt from a past Popsugar Reading Challenge and went back to a book by a trans or nonbinary author.

One manga finish: Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 1

I haven't started it yet, but next on my list will be Spoiler Alert, which will be my Popsugar book that discusses body positivity.

QOTW: When it comes to hidden gems, I tend to think of either self-pubbed or small press authors, or lesser-known trad-pub authors.

I recommend T. Kingfisher to everyone because I think some of her self-pubbed work flies under the radar, but she's also trad-pubbed with a bigger audience and a little more widely known.

Looking through some of my high-rated reads that have low overall ratings numbers...

A couple of my friends are small-press published authors. I would guess their best-known book is a m/m romance, Detour, which was up for an award a few years ago, and which I really loved.

There's this really funny, enjoyable play (if anyone wants something short for the "different format" prompt) Of Dice and Men about the lives of a group of D&D gamers. (I saw it performed live first, so may be biased, but it was a great experience.)

Hurricane Heels - a book of interconnected short stories about a group of magical girls, Sailor Moon style, who are growing up and getting tired of saving the world.

This flintlock fantasy series, starting with The Sisters Mederos. It's kind of slow-paced, at least in the first book, but I really liked the characters and world-building.

[Rebecca]

If all goes as planned, I get shot number one tomorrow.

First book this week was Poirot Investigates, a book of short stories that went into the public domain this year. I wasn't super impressed; I thought most of the scenarios were a bit far-fetched. They're also presented in a weird, non-chronological order that was a bit jarring. Still, less-than-stellar Christie is still pretty good.

Next was The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds, in which the author uses "armchair birder" to mean someone who reads a lot about birds and observes the ones nearby but doesn't travel in search of rarities and stuff. So, hello, it me. I didn't learn much new information, but I enjoyed the author's humorous style and the fact that I am not the only person who is like this.

Lastly I finished up The Mammoth Book of the Adventures of Professor Moriarty, an assortment of short stories by various authors. I had been reading bits of it between other books for a while, and I don't think I would've been able to handle it all at once. There certainly were a lot of different takes, with him at various ages (including a centuries-old near-immortal) and meeting various historical and fictional figures, but I think it's hard to make Moriarty a compelling character; he's too one-dimensional. (I was surprised there weren't more takes in which he wasn't actually a master criminal.)

QOTW: At the risk of thoroughly battering this deceased equine, I'm'a keep bringing up A Guide to the Birds of East Africa until somebody reads it. ;)

I've got a Rachel Graves book that was free on Kindle a while ago, so I'm glad to know it might be worth bumping up the list.

[Shel]

Ok Rebecca, I just requested A Guide to the Birds of East Africa from the library. Will report back :)

Just one finish for me last week - A Desolation Called Peace, used for the published in 2021 prompt. It's a sequel to A Memory Called Empire, which I read last year and absolutely loved. I immediately requested the sequel from the library as soon as it was released. I absolutely loved it, even though I found it slow at the start. That was the case for the first book too, so I knew to fight through it. It was everything I loved about the first book, plus first contact with some creepy aliens and a sweet little LGBT romance running through the whole story.

I've just started The City of Brass, and I have just picked up The Once and Future Witches from the library so that'll be next!

QOTW: I don't know if I'd call her unknown, exactly, but very few people I know IRL or on my various clubs have read any Dorothy Dunnett, and they are missing out! Her books are NOT easy reads, and I think a lot of people give up when they are confused at first, but the payoff is SO worth it. She wrote historical fiction (and mysteries, but I've never read any of her mysteries - at least not yet!). A good place to start is The Game of Kings, the first book of her Lymond Chronicles series. It can stand alone, but if you're the type that made it through the confusing start and finished it, you'll want more. Francis Crawford of Lymond is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

[Sheri]

Jennifer, your doctor didn’t have connections? I got my apt through my my chart, my health system has several locations and there were plenty of slots open. It’s the pharmacies that are impossible to get into around here. But it does mean I have to drive 40 min downtown, not just go somewhere local.

[Kathy]

Three finishes for me this week. First was In the Vanishers’ Palace, which was a retelling of a Beauty and the Beast story that I got in a StoryBundle. I tend to not like books where everyone's miserable (my "les Mis test") so didn't care for it. But it was short and counted as my indie published for book nerds. To recover from that, I read the next Rivers of London book, The Hanging Tree. Continue to very much enjoy the series, and used it for my book with magic in it. I read Naked Greed, the 34th! Stone Barrington novel. I had searched my library for something involving a deadly sin and this came up. I had liked his Holly Barker series and read one or two previous Stone Barrington's, so gave it a try. I had the impression the author wasn't trying very hard (and other reviews agreed), but it was a really fast read and knocked off another prompt for me.
QOTW:
I know there are a lot of Amelia Peabody fans at FoE, but I am also quite fond of her other heroines, Vicky Bliss and Jacqueline Kirby, both set in modern times. Elizabeth Peters also has a standalone "Legend in Green Velvet" that is a favorite; but it's set in the 70s and the funniest part only works if you remember that before Prince Charles married Diana, he was considered quite the eligible bachelor. Another mystery series I really enjoy is the Deborah Knott series by Margaret Maron, who just passed away this spring. All the books are set in North Carolina, and she has really good characters. Some of the settings are really interesting-one set in pottery country, one at the furniture mart, one in a hurricane. I have heard her described as having a "strong sense of place" in her writing.
A fantasy series I really liked was the Swords and Fire trilogy by Melissa Caruso, which had fewer ratings than expected. Another fantasy was How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse that I was also surprised at the lower number of ratings considering it got a lot of love on FoE.

[Susan]

I got shot #1 today! Moderna. Shot #2 will be my Mother's Day gift from the state. Good luck to all of you very close behind! So far all effects are minimal.

I have no finishes this week. Only about 20% of the way through The Once and Future Witches. I am enjoying it so far. It is different than what I normally read but holding my interest.

And, on repeat. Still listening to Babylon's Ashes. Several more chapters done. It is a very long book so it'll keep coming up here.

I also have Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food that I read when I didn't want fiction. We attended a Zoom event through our local PBS station that was The Science of Food and the author was one of the two speakers. So I got her book from the library.

QOTW: I am coming up blank, but my brain is getting tired now, several hours after my shot.

[Trystan]

i finished Klara and the Sun - wow! and i finally finished reading Travel Light, too. fun little book.

now i'm finally reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue from my library! i'll be sure to check out the discussion threads!! funny thing is, i requested it the same time as i requested The Once and Future Witches.... and i got that from the library back in February! i'll pop in and check out those threads as they're put up. i sometimes don't remember everything once I've finished the book. i think that's my mechanism for liking everything i read. XD

i still have a number (5) of books on hold at the library, but only 2 of them are actually at the library to borrow - the other three are still on order. and I've also put in a purchase suggestion for another book that's not there yet.

QOTW:
i mean, i'm sure some of the authors I've read and love no one's heard about, but i don't know who they are because this is actually the first time I've really chatted about the books I've read. y'all are welcome to peruse my "read" list here and see who you've never heard of XD

(this was better than my other answer i thought of - me! i enjoy rereading my fanfics and nano novels. if any one wants links to my indexes, message me here and i can link you up XD )

and as a post script - i got dose 1 of Pfizer on March 31st and dose 2 will be on April 21 :D

[nimrodiel]

I haven't checked in in a while here. I was in a bit of a reading rut all year so far. However, I was in spring break last week and dove into a pile of graphic novels, and my husband and I have gotten back I to the audiobook listening together in the evenings. We had been working on the Wheel of Time books for almost two years so it's been nice to grab some other books from the audiobook TBR library. Unfortunately we've had two books by favorite authors that were disappointing.

[Marina]

Hello! Happy to hear folk are getting access to vaccines - I've had my first dose, so that's a start.

Since last check in, I finally finished Girl, Woman, Other - thoroughly enjoyed this one. I feel like it did a notably good job really giving insight into how the different characters genuine saw themselves, their inner sense of self, and how that shaped how they experienced the world.

Also finished Circe, which I also thought was well done. I do like a good myth and, as previously discussed, generally enjoy retellings, so this was fun. It wasn't a group of gods I'm terribly familiar with, so it was also kind of fun not knowing all the various elements before they happened.

Currently reading Now, Then, and Everywhen. I like time travel stories, but am struggling a little to keep track of all the characters and different timelines in this at the moment. That's partly due to reading it in bits, and not paying quite enough attention to headers, but I'm hopeful I'll get the hang of it as it goes on. I think I picked it up as an Amazon First Reads book. It's a prequel to a series I've not read, so there's scope for more if I end up liking it.

QOTW: Not too sure about hidden gems, though I'm sure I have a few. A really sweet little book that seems a little less well known is All My Friends are Superheroes. It's short enough to read in one sitting, quirky, and I find it a very comforting look at the general state of being human.

[Megan]

As of yesterday afternoon, I am now fully vaccinated - woo hoo! Ohio seems to actually be doing pretty well getting people vaccinated, so if we could just build a wall, we could probably get to herd immunity by summer.... :) I'm not going to restaurants, theaters, or any big events ("big" defined as involving more than 5-10 people who I know personally) until we get there, so I don't know that my day to day life will change that much - but it's still nice.

Anyway, my reading pace suddenly snapped back to normal after my last check in, which markedly improved my experience with the rest of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. That is definitely one to read in big chunks rather than a few pages at a time. It's not at all hard to follow when you go straight from one chapter to the next, but since each chapter takes place at a different time and involves different characters, it's really hard to get oriented when you read a few pages, then wait a couple days, then read a few more pages. The whole IRL book club #3 enjoyed that one, and most of us plan to seek out the sequel one of these days.

After that, I flew through The Midnight Library for IRL book club #1 - that was another one that benefitted from reading large sections at once, since it jumps around to different possible lives. I enjoyed it, even if it wasn't terribly unpredictable, and it was much shorter than it looked - lots of white space and short chapters, which fits with the tone of the story.

Then, my hold FINALLY came in for November 9! I don't have any idea why it took so long, since I'd already requested it prior to suggesting it in the last round of our books. I will post in the thread in more detail, but as a summary for those of you who did not enjoy it, which seems to be the majority - if you didn't like this one, you will not enjoy other Colleen Hoover books, either. This one is pretty middle of the road in terms of drama, coincidence, and unhealthy relationship levels among her books. It is exactly the kind of dumpster fire that some of my IRL book clubs enjoy dissecting, and I love. I don't typically enjoy traditional romance novels, or the really out-there supernatural ones, or the super graphic smutty ones - but these are right up my alley with minimal detail of the, ahem, physical intimacy, and emotionally unhealthy people in highly improbable scenarios making deeply questionable life choices. Maybe it's because I grew up around a lot of drama and am now safely in the future surrounded by stable people and situations, so it's like looking at the ocean after you've been in it all day, but this was the most fun I'd had reading something in a long time.

I'm now about halfway through The Once and Future Witches, for which there was no wait at my library. I'm really enjoying it and looking forward to hearing everyone else's thoughts, and that's all I'll say until everyone else has had a chance to read it and there are discussion threads so I don't spoil anything. But thank you to whoever suggested it - I'd never heard of it, or the author, so I probably would have missed it otherwise.

QOTW: Like Jennifer, I went back and looked at my highly rated books with few reviews on Goodreads and came up with S.B. Urquidi's Alma Jaramillo series, Dates! An Anthology of Queer Historical Fiction Stories and its sequels, Uncommon Animals: Omnibus Edition, Destiny, NY, Volume One: Who I Used to Be and its sequels, and The Queen of Ieflaria and its sequels.

[Jen W.]

Sheri, no connections from my doctor - they have no doses. I guess WA state is prioritizing mass vaccination sites and pharmacies. I was almost able to book an appointment this morning... but it disappeared while I was going through the process. WA just opened up for everyone 16+ this week, so it's probably going to be like that for a little while.

At this point, I just need to set an alarm early Sunday morning, since that's how we had luck getting my partner's mom her appointments.

[Sheri]

That's a bummer! i logged into my doctor's mychart and had a bunch of options. i even sat on it a couple days trying to find one a bit closer, before deciding a sure thing was better than uncertainty, and still had plenty for the day I wanted. I'm thinking most people around here are focusing on trying through pharmacies and aren't thinking about going direct through doctors or something

[Megan]

I just realized I forgot to mention that I listened to a couple more hours of Skyward, which is getting more entertaining but I think I would enjoy more as a printed book, since there is a LOT of exposition that would be nice to skim. :)