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What are you reading in 2022?
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Brittany
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Jan 24, 2022 10:44PM
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as a quick fun read. Neat to learn about the various saints and I did flip through an ebook copy to see the pictures. Not the best stories but still fun.Also finished reading
it was okay. A satisfying enough end to the trilogy but kind of slow and nothing unexpected.Currently listening to
I'm about 1.5 hours in. No real opinion yet.Not sure which ebook I'll start next.
Brittany wrote: "Happy I could intrigue you! Have you read the original Caraval Trilogy? While this could be read as a standalone you'll be missing a bunch of lore and background info."Actually no, but it's also on my list. I'll try to read Caraval first.
Not so productive this time as I've spent most of the time learning some new tech things I need for work.
- finished the book very fast as it was extremely interesting. I also have the next one and planning to finish the series this week. Hope the 3rd is even more interesting.
- I didn't like the Ballad but the Hunger Games book was amazing! So much tension, action and trickery. Besides high fantasy this was also what I was craving to read.
- finished this manga series and it is so cute and adorable! Now I want to read something like that. Somehow I have this kind of unhealthy relations with manga. Once I love something, it's so painful to finish the series and for a long time after I'm trying to find something similar.
@Brittany - def felt the same with the end of the cursebreaker series but congrats on finishing another series!!@Elena - the Daevabad trilogy is high on my tbr! Also glad you enjoyed Hunger Games!
Elena wrote: "Not so productive this time as I've spent most of the time learning some new tech things I need for work. - finished the book very fast as it was extreme..."Glad you enjoyed The Hunger Games Elena! I also really liked the Daevabad trilogy.
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Heather thanks! Exactly at least it was another series finished! Will you read anymore books in that world if they come out?
Potentially. I enjoyed the series well enough.. But I feel like it wrapped up well enough that more books feel unnecessary so idk. You?
I started reading We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I also just finished a few days ago my first book for my reading goal. It’s called Girl,Taken (Ella Dark series) by Blake Pierce. This book was a fantastic read. I’m also having some trouble. I can’t decide if I want to read the next book of the series or read a completely different book from my list of books to read for this year. Once I’m done reading We Were Liars. Any suggestions?
I have a bit to talk about this week so I'll get this out of the way now and settle into a weekend of reading.
-4 StarsThis is not normally a book that I would read but I picked it up on a whim. I saw someone had read it on my Goodreads timeline and figured I'd give a whirl just because. This is set in the late 80's in Venice beach and deals with the topics of racism, homosexuality, and transgender issues. I'll be honest, in the beginning I wasn't really feeling the book. I was sitting there wondering why in the heck I was reading this. As the book went along the main character won me over and charmed me. Her direct, blunt, 10 year old view and approach to the world and something in it just won me over. I'll even admit that by the end I even got a little misty eyed. As a middle grade book it doesn't get super deep into these serious topics but it doesn't shy away from them either. Just an unexpected book that won me over with its charm.
-4 StarsThis might sound like a bit of a repeat of the above book but bear with me. Another book that I had picked up on a whim. I was looking for a shorter audiobook to hold me over until my next audiobook hold came in. I asked for some recommendations and this was one of them on the list. I do like a good survival story but this is honestly something I would have passed over. The basic summary of this book is girl gets drunk, finds her boyfriend cheating, runs into the woods, gets seriously injured/lost and has to survive. This book had a very rough start for me. The first part was a lot of silly teenage drama that I could not stand. The main character was very grating for me and several of her decisions really annoyed me. Somewhere along the way though I found myself rooting for her, sympathizing with her, even relating to her in some ways. This wasn't just a survival book. A lot of her time in the woods trying to find her way out was spent in her head reflecting back on her life. There was also a cold case mystery essentially dealing with the disappearance of Davey Beats who was the MC's childhood crush and the boy who had taught her how to live in the woods. 2-3 years prior to the events of the book he had walked into the woods and was never seen again. There were still moments in the book that broke my suspension of disbelief. Such as the time she was recalling the time she nearly died from hypothermia walking to the burn barrel in the yard during a polar vortex. Listen, maybe it's because I come from the frozen waste of Canada and have ice in my veins but that seems really damn quick for hypothermia to not only set in but to escalate to the point of near death. I mean I take the trash out at -40 wearing slippers, pajama pants, and a light shirt. I get cool but I'm not dying from hypothermia from a quick jaunt across the parking lot and back. Like I said though maybe that is because I'm from Canada and was raised in the cold.
I think the other thing that really clicked with me was the narration of this book. Again in the beginning I wasn't really clicking with it but as the story went along I changed my tune. I'm no expert in accents but to my untrained ear she had a southern accent, not a pronounced one, but it was there. It was the emotive qualities of the voice though. The narrator really made you feel what the character was feeling and that made some moments in the book hit 1000 times harder. Again maybe that was just me but like the last book there were a few times I got a little misty eyed listening to this.
-4 StarsOh boy, where to start. From the moment I started looking into things like manhwa or Korean fantasy books there have been two names that kept popping up. Solo Leveling and The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. Last year I found out that Yen Press was picking up the novel version of this and I put it on my TBR. At the end of the year I discovered that my library had it and requested a copy. To start with this book was not what I was expecting. For some reason I was expecting the usual light novel fare where either someone was transported to a fantasy world or it would just be set in a generic fantasy world. This is set in present day Korea and involves Gates opening to dungeons. There are certain people in the world that "awaken" and those people have certain power levels ranked from E (weakest) to S (strongest). Those people go into these gates to fight monsters, gain treasure, and make money. Our main character is the weakest of these awoken people and during a raid finds himself on deaths door when, essentially, he unlocks video game logic. He starts seeing an overlay in his vision, he gets experience points and level ups, etc, etc.
This book was really dang good and I am invested in this series. Our MC is not the paragon of a good guy and does some pretty shady things in this book which I enjoyed. The book ended by setting up at least three good plot points for the next book and I am genuinely curious to see where things go next. I might even buy the next book instead of waiting for my library to get the next copy.
-3 StarsAfter the interesting start to this series I was curious to see where things went. What I found was kind of disappointing to be honest. The second half of this series just kind of fizzled for me. It wasn't a bad ending but it just left me feeling very meh. Things started going off the rails, in my opinion, when the series spent several chapters setting up potential romantic interests for the MC. Is she going to be with the arch mage, the prince, the childhood friend, or maybe a yuri romance. There were so many chapters spent on this for it to all amount to essentially nothing. Then it just set out on this blistering pace to get to the end of the story where everything was wrapped up quickly with a nice little bow on top. I just feel like it could have been more and explored more story points instead of just wrapping them up quickly and moving on to the next thing. From what I understand the series went on hiatus a few times towards the end as the author had some health issues so maybe that played a role in it.
-3 StarsThis was a random yuri manga series that I picked up and I'll be honest here. It's been less than a week since I read this and I really don't remember a thing about this book. It was just this random slice of life stuff that kept throwing new characters at you every time you turned around. There didn't really seem to be a story line and I didn't see a hook to invest myself in. The only thing that stood out to me was the reaction faces. This book had some unique and interesting reaction faces. I'm not going to be reading on in this series.
This weekend the two main things I want to read are Girls Und Panzer and
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This week I've managed to finish only 2 books but both were great!
- filled with all the court intrigues, arranged marriage (to become a romance?) and more interesting events happening.
- loved loved loved the final book! This book is definitely on top of my favorites list. (view spoiler)
Alright, I'm doing a special update because I want to talk about a particular series which I will get to shortly.
-3 StarsAnother Rogue Angel book. Not a lot to say.
-4 More Toriko, it was good
-3 Stars
Before I get to these manga I need to give you a peek into my mind and I apologize in advance for that. I love the anime Girls Und Panzer and I will never hide that fact. While not the peak of CGDCT (Cute Girls Doing Cute Things) the shear absurdity if this show just clicks with me. In this world the peak of female elegance is participating in the Martial Arts known as tankery. To quote the opening pages of the manga:
Tankery. One of the "martial arts" rich in culture and tradition... and a graceful art form for women, passed down for many generations. You will become strong and hard like steel, you will be adorable like the clacking of tracks, and you will become passionate like the main turret. You will never miss any target you aim for. Yes! Studying the art of tankery will help you gain the essential skills of becoming an elegant woman.
What is tankery you ask? Tankery is young girls participating in tank battles using WWII tanks. The show follows our main crew of young girls as the school starts up a new tankery club. It has all all the hallmarks of a usual CGDCT show as well as a sports show as these girls will be battling other schools in a tournament like they would for Judo, Track & Field, etc except with, you know, tanks. Oh and the interesting spin on all of this, all of these schools are built on the decks of giant aircraft carriers that float around the ocean. This show is simply absurd and I love every minute of it.
Now we get to the manga. This is one of those rare cases where the anime was not based on the manga. The manga was released afterwards to support the show. I'll freely admit that the show has some flaws. For instance it has a monster roster of characters, many which get little characterization outside of some very basic tropes. As for the main cast they are a bit more fleshed out but it's still pretty basic. Somehow this manga strips away even more of the characterization until the point that basically no one gets any. Honestly this is just a series and a premise that works better as an anime then as a manga. Reading a tank battle using still images is not the same as watching a tank battle animated. That is not even getting into the various songs that the anime has that are, obviously, not in the manga. To be honest this is going to be one of this times where the anime is superior to the manga and that is not something I normally say. I miss the little character bits in the anime, I miss seeing the girls having their absurdly painted tanks, I miss the stuff between the battles. None of that is here in the manga. To be even more honest here the only reason I even gave these three stars was because of my love for the franchise. If I had no previous knowledge of the franchise before reading these manga I probably would not have read past the first volume.
To sum things up, should you read these manga? Unless you're a fan of the franchise I'd say no but if you are looking for something to cool to watch on a Sunday afternoon then go check out the anime. I will now leave you with tank drifting because that is a thing
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yesterday and was thankful I was listening to the audio otherwise I may never have finished it. It wasn't a bad book it was just slower and wordier than necessary. It never compelled me to pick it back up. Had heard a lot of good about it but didn't live up to my expectations.Haven't decided what audio I am starting next. Too many choices
@Brittany oh so true! When you hear so many good things about the book, usually you have pretty high expectations and otherwise good book becomes ordinary. I'm currently trying not to read lots of reviews before reading a book :)
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and I really enjoyed it! There was a twist I wasn't expecting that featured one of my favorite things to read about, so I loved that. Plus I just really loved the spooky setting and the story in general.I also re-read
because I was planning on finally finishing this duology after having started it 8 years ago 😅 I didn't love it as much as I did all those years ago, but it wasn't bad. Although I am on the fence on whether I want to read book 2. We'll see.
@Lili 8 years ago! Wow! :)I've finished some witch-y books and loved them!
- amazing story! After reading the book I decided to watch the movie too, both are great.
- the series reminds me of Harry Potter and I basically couldn't put the book aside 🤣
Elena wrote: "@Lili 8 years ago! Wow! :)I've finished some witch-y books and loved them!
- amazing story! After reading the book I decided to watch the movie too, both ..."Oh I loved The Worst Witch when I was a kid, though I don't think I finished the series, I think I read the first three/maybe four?
Finished
and I enjoyed it although it was perhaps a little long, I think I would have started it closer to the rise of Hitler in 1933, as that's when I started to really get interested in what was going on-though maybe that's because we did the Nazis A LOT at school, so I really didn't need any of the background info of how Hitler came to power, I knew all of that already. The chapters also covered quite large chunks of time, so I found myself getting a little lost as to what month I was in when! Still I did really love getting to learn more about the women of the Rote Kapelle, especially Greta who seemed like such a firecracker of a woman! It's also amazing how even though I knew what happened to all of them, I was still crushed by the way it ended for Mildred, Arvid and the others.Moved onto my next audio
, I'm on a real historical kick at the moment, so why fight it?
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I hadn't heard of Her Hidden Genius but I am intrigued. Looking forward to your thoughts Jo
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I've finished some witch-y books and loved them!
- amazing story! After reading the book I decided to watch the movie too, both ..."Yeah 😅 When I say I'm terrible at finishing series, this is what I mean. Lol.
Brittany wrote: "That's fair saying Resistance Woman was a bit long but glad you enjoyed it anyway!I hadn't heard of Her Hidden Genius but I am intrigued. Looking forward to your thoughts Jo"
I mean it covers a long period of time, so I do get it on the one hand, but I think it could have started closer to Hitler taking control of Germany without losing too much (but like I said, I'm very familiar with the history, so maybe people who aren't as much would have needed the extra background info that starting in 1929 gave). I will let you know how Her Hidden Genius goes!
Started The Leaving by Tara Altebrando last night and already I’m on page 255! Definitely a page turner.
This week was a random one though pretty busy at work.Finished 1 book and a manga series.
- honestly I didn't like previous books too much but this one was good.
- adorable manga, magical and beautiful.
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I finished
and it was fantastic. After that epilogue though I am dying for the next book and glad I didnt read it when it came out in 2016. At least I only have to wait a few months for the next book!
This week has not been the greatest week of reading for me. 
-2 StarsThis is one of those books where I'm fairly certain it's squarely on me for not liking this book and not necessarily anything that the book did itself, kind of. This was a short story anthology about women's fears, in particular surrounding things like home, pregnancy, children, etc. I'm not the biggest fan of short stories and short story anthologies. There are times it can be done alright but the shortness of the stories can make it hard to get invested in things. In this book the stories range from a single page to maybe 10-15 pages. It really makes it hard to get invested in anything when I know that in just a short time, especially with the single page ones, I'll be moving on to someone else. The other issue with this book is that I just didn't get it most of the time. Maybe it's because I'm not a women who has dealt with things like pregnancy, children, etc or maybe it's just because I'm dumb as a brick. This firmly felt like one of those times where you could show me and a group of others a picture of a flower. I'd look at you and tell you it's a flower. The rest of the group would give a 16 page break down on how the flower represents mankind's deepest fears and the downfall of society in general due to x reasons. I'm sorry, all I see is a flower. I didn't get this book, I was bored, I just wanted it to end.
-3 StarsThis is one of those teenage detective books in the vein of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew but set in Canada. While the novelty of this genre has lost some of its charm to me I still had to check out a Canadian version of this as it wasn't something I've seen before. This is about a young man on a train from Winnipeg to Vancouver when a young women is murdered. He has read a ton of Hardy Boy novels and aspires to be a detective so of course he tries to solve the crime. This wasn't a bad book but it also wasn't ground breaking either for me. The kid doesn't so much as solve the mystery as he just kind of stumbles into the solution and the bad guy reveals all to him. I'm also used to the MC's of these kind of novels to be a bit more of an upstanding person. He wasn't a serial killing monster or anything but there were times were he was a bit of a punk to others on the train.
-3 StarsI went from being stoked when I first saw/heard about this book last year to have a lot of trepidation going into this book. I saw a lot of negative reviews coming in for this book and it was mentioning a lot of things that I'm not a fan of. After reading this book I can say it was alright. A lot of the reviews I saw mentioned "flowery writing" as one of the negatives and I can kind of see it. I wouldn't call it flowery writing as such though. The narrator is very wordy though. The characters all talk like normal people but the narrator talks like an English professor flexing his knowledge of obscure words. There were words in this book that I've never seen in my life and had no clue what they meant. The other issue, and this was firmly on me, was that this didn't 100% feel like a Japanese horror. It's a weird thing to explain so bear with me. I've dabbled in a fair smattering of Japanese horror starting with things like The Ring and Juon. I've since read more about urban legends and other horror staples. The biggest thing I love about Japanese horror over most Western horror is the lack of a safety net. In Western horror there is always a way for the hero to save themselves. If it's a vampire they can stake the vampire, use garlic, use a cross, etc. If it's a werewolf they can use silver bullets, wolfsbane, etc. In Japanese horror, more often than not, your are just straight up dead if you anger something. As a result it really ratchets up a tension as there isn't an out for the hero. This kind of had some of the staples you would expect but it gave the heroes an out. It also just felt like it was missing something. I can't be more precise than that. I'll say this, it's a decent spooky book that is a quick read. If you're curious I'd say give it a shot.
-3 StarsI was one of those kids that grew up on Archie comics. I would find them all the time at garage sales for dirt cheap and it was my gateway into comics. Over the years I stopped reading the franchise as the stories just stopped appealing to me. Now the franchise went through a major shake up a few years back now and started to tackle more modern and serious issues with the characters. I still wasn't drawn back into the main franchise but I dabbled with some of the horror stuff and it was good. Hoopla has their bonus borrows on this month and this book was one of the ones that was being offered. Jughead was always my favorite character so I was curious. It was alright. The character was still very much recognizable as the Jughead that I knew, and loved, growing up but in a modern setting with modern problems. I wouldn't say that I was blown away by anything but it was enough to make me curious about some of the other stuff that they have produced.
-3 StarsLike the first book I talked about this is another one where I feel my issues with the book were on me. This is deemed to be one of the classics of the Yuri genre and after many months of waiting I finally got my copy from the library. This book had rough start for me that had me constantly checking the page number to see if I had missed a page or something. Towards the end I felt that the story was starting to hit its stride but I just wasn't vibing with the characters or the story. A lot of this comes down to me just being burnt out on the whole high school first love kind of story. It's not a bad trope or anything but I'm just kind of burnt out on the whole thing. The whole reading through volume after volume of the characters trying to figure out these new and confusing emotions. Waiting for what feels like forever for them to maybe hold hands or even risk a kiss if things are really scandalous. I'm just kind of done with it for a bit.
-4 StarsNow this is what I'm talking about. This is about two female teachers who start dating. The manga opens with the two of them at the start of their dating. It's cute, it's awkward, it's sweet. In the first chapter we already have kissing and hand holding. By the end of the first volume they have had their first sexy times, both as a couple and in general. It's not a deep complicated story but it's the sweet mindless fluff about actual relationships that I enjoy.
-3 StarsAfter many months I made my return to this manga. I was a little lost as I stopped in the middle of an arc but I picked things up fairly quickly. It was more Fairy Tail and it was alright.
-4 StarsMore food related adventures. Thumbs up
I've also been listening to
on the way to work and that has been a good time. I'll get into it more next week when I actually finish things up.Now that I'm through this week things are looking a bit more stacked for me. I just started my reread of
which is a good book. After that I've got
. Things should be getting better over the next bit.
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it was alright. Definitely not her best work, just a kind of average mystery that never got to the thriller aspect it promised.Next on audio is
How was You’ll Be The Death Of Me? This is on my reading list and looking forward to reading it as well!
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It wasn't a bad book but it just wasn't a great book either. Japanese folklore is ripe with some great horror elements that it could have tapped into but it felt like it barely skimmed the surface.
Finished
, it was okay, but I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would? I felt that the story lacked emotion, it felt almost clinical in a way and whilst I so admire everything that Rosalind Franklin did and am still infuriated at how her research was stolen from her, but it felt more like a biography than a novel at times? I felt like I didn't learn massively more from this that I couldn't have already found out from looking at Franklin's Wikipedia page! My next audiobook is
. I'm sure it's going to be a tough one given the subject matter, but I'm really looking forward to reading it.
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Agreed! I think you probably enjoyed it more than I did lol. The writing was not for me... not even a little bit 😅
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It was the weakest of her books for me. An okay read but nothing special.
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Interesting, Brittany. Thanks for the insight! I love her books so far so I hope I will like this one too.
@Jo, I did Know My Name last year and it was a powerful read/listen.
Brittany wrote: "Jo too bad about Her Hidden Genius. I am curious how Know My Name goes for you."Yeah I was really disappointed, I usually love stories of women from history but I don't think Benedict wrote Franklin's in the most engaging way. I will definitely let you know! I'm only about two chapters in, but I'm....I don't want to say enjoying it because the subject matter is so heavy, but Miller is a great writer and I'm finding it an engaging listen.
HeatherH wrote: "@Jo, I did Know My Name last year and it was a powerful read/listen."Good to hear, I'm definitely feeling that so far, but not very far through yet. I still get really mad when I think about how little time Brock Turner had to serve for what he did, it's absolute joke that he only got three months in prison.
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in short it isn't for me. Idea was good, execution terrible and the narrator wasn't good either. On a better note my hold on
came in, I'm about 30 min into the audio and so far I'm a fan!
In between exams, I finished
,
and
. The Pillars of the Earth disappointed me a bit since I felt the ending was rushed, but I enjoyed most of it. I heard the second book is the same as the first one, but in a different setting so I'm not sure if I'm going to finish it.
Girls in pieces made me cry so many times. The author portrayed depression and addictions so realistically. It's an amazing book.
Currently, I'm reading
,
and my boyfriend made the mistake of reading two chapters of
to me, so now he has eight books to go. He reads two chapters every night over the phone.
Gwen wrote: "In between exams, I finished , and . The Pillars of the Earth disappointed me a bit ..."
I'm on book six of The Wandering Inn and all I'll say is have fun. The books get really long and each chapter is roughly a novella unto itself. It's a great read and I really need to get back to it.
Brittany wrote: "Jo, I couldn't agree more it is an absolute joke. I'm not sure I could read that one but I'll think about it if you find it excellent also since Heather found it powerful."It's definitely not an easy read, it's really interesting and powerfully written but obviously the content is quite heavy.
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and it didn't work for me. I find that author too hit or miss so I am giving up on this series now. Parts of it were good, parts were everything I hate in a contemporary romance book.Oh well on to
I go!
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