Week 3 & 4 Check in

[Sheri]

Hi all, Not off to a great start this year, sorry everyone! Been slammed at work, and had a hospital scare with my husband last weekend. Just really threw me off and I didn't have the bandwidth to post.

Book Club: I set up a poll, there were a lot of options so I just grabbed books mentioned by name (not suggestions of series if no specific one was mentioned). https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

I'll check results in a week or so!


The last couple weeks I finished:
Adventureman, Vol. 1: The End and Everything After - went on a comic binge, finished up this arc, was pretty good.

Babyteeth, Vol. 4 - Wrapped up the series, I liked it overall. I guess the plan was always to be 20 issues, but it felt like he maybe got carried away early on and then found himself running out of time to wrap it up. Last issue was all epilogue so it felt like the main plot got wrapped up very quickly. After all the trials and tribulations across the arc, everything just got wrapped up with a bow with very little fuss in the second to last issue. Still enjoyable, just felt very abrupt.

Avengers by Jason Aaron, Vol. 8: Enter the Phoenix - getting set up for the next arc of marvel whatever, kind of frustrated with how many major "across every book" events they keep doing. I just want to enjoy the characters I like without having to keep reading all this other stuff to not feel lost.

Basilisk, Vol. 1 - new series, interesting idea with powers based on senses

Bermuda- cute little series, new take on bermuda triangle.

The Vanishing Half - next books & brew read. This was a weird one for me. The first 3/4 dragged, and i mostly trudged through because it was a book club read. The last quarter really picked up and i had trouble putting it down. So I guess it evened out to pretty good.

Home from the Sea - re read because I dnfed two books and just fell back on something familiar.

Alkarra Awakening- second Network Series book, i'm liking the series so far.

I DNFed two books too, The God of Small Things, although this went onto Maybe Later because I could see reading it for a book club or something where I could discuss it. But it felt too all over the place and flowery for me to concentrate on. and Noir which bummed me out because I usually really like Christophere Moore and had been looking forward to this one. But i got a little suspicious when he put a disclaimer at the beginning about attitudes towards race and women because it's a "period piece". I gave it the benefit of the doubt, but then the n-word was dropped and I noped out. It's supposed to be a humor book, and there's a certain level of fantasy in most his books, so I just....don't think it was necessary. He could have hedged around using it saying the man "called him a slur" or something, there was no need to actually go there. Really disappointed, honestly.

Currently reading:

Nightbitch - I admit i mostly grabbed this off hoopla for the title. thought it might be funny. So far it's more kind of surreal and depressing. It's basically showing the aspects of motherhood that tend to get buried in our society. I'm child free, so a lot of it is just like "yes, these are all things I was afraid of happening, which is why I never wanted kids."

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - audio re-read. I'm actually kinda worried i'm goign to run out of my hoopla download for this, oops. I still love the book, just been so busy at work i haven't had the right focus level to listen while working as much, and haven't had the headsapce to listen after work/weekend as much.

QOTW:

Has being in this group or other reading groups opened you up to new genres you used to not read?

I know I've been a lot more open to nonfiction. For a while in the early days of this group, the book club went on a span of nonfiction, like The Radium Girls, Unmentionable, As You Wish, I i think maybe a couple others. I used to associate nonfiction with school and felt like with no plot it was a chore. I realized that there was plenty of nonfiction out there written in a more narrative or humorous way that was still fun to read.

[Shel]

Sheri, I hope your husband is ok! And honestly, I don't know about everyone else, but an every-other-week thread is fine with me if you are struggling to get it done weekly!

Once I got through the first few chapters of Mexican Gothic it picked up steam and I couldn't put it down. I think I liked it even better than Gods of Jade and Shadow. If horror/magic realism appeals to you, I definitely recommend it. Super creepy in the best way!

I then re-read The Last Light of the Sun - Guy Gavriel Kay is just about my favorite author, but I liked but didn't love this one when I read it 15 or so years ago. I decided to give it another try since I remembered very little about it (and I know a bit more about the cultures it is based on now than I did back then). I stand by my previous review - it's just as lovely as his writing always is, but his other books always leave me with tears in my eyes at the end and this one just...didn't. But a 4-star book from Kay is just as good as a 5-star book from everyone else so I still think it's worth reading.

I'm now reading Detransition, Baby and am about 3/4 through it. Excellent own-voices queer fiction that I'll probably fill in for the chosen family prompt.

I finished our bedtime reads with both kids - All-of-a-Kind Family with my daughter and The Red Pyramid with my son. My little one wants to take a break from chapter books for a while because she still has picture books that she loves, but of course we are on to The Throne of Fire with my big guy.

QOTW: I have always been mostly a reader of SF/F and science nonfiction, so it's good for me to be in a group like this where people have such diverse tastes that I get good suggestions for other kinds of fiction to read. I've definitely picked up some books in the past few years that would not have been on my radar screen if it weren't for my various book groups.

[Sheri]

Thanks Shel, ended up being not serious but at the time he was totally non responsive for several minutes which caused me to call 911. And paramedics strongly suggested taking him to er just to make sure. Was mostly just very scary, stressful, and a long night. Didn’t get home until almost 2 am. Plus the added “er in a pandemic” stress, although apparently my area must not be too bad since there was no wait for ambulance and he st least got in a room right away. They says they were mostly dealing with injuries that night.

[Jen W.]

I'm sorry, Sheri. I hope things are getting better for you. If there's anything I can do, even if it's just helping out with group posts, I'd be happy to help. I don't think any of us want this group adding to your stress. <3

I have tomorrow off from work, although not for anything happy (running errands and getting ready for a funeral on Saturday). Still, I'll enjoy having a day off to rest. I've been very tired this week.

I've had a bunch of finishes since our last check-in. I've been reading so much manga that I'm already at nearly 30 books read, just in January.

Into the Dying Light - 4 stars, but it was more like 3.5 rounded up. This fit into the favorite past prompt - a free book from your TBR list, It was a good finale to the series, but overall, this series was kind of predictable in a lot of ways. Mostly, I kept reading on the strength of a few of the characters that I liked.

People We Meet on Vacation - I also gave this 4 stars. This filled the #BookTok recommendation prompt. It was a cute, fluffy rom-com, and I liked the male lead a lot. I actually wished we had gotten his perspective.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built - 5 stars. I loved this. It was gentle and quiet and philosophical. It filled the prompt for a book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page. The quote was from Martha Wells, author of Murderbot.

Iron Widow - 4 stars. This is a sci-fi, not historical, but the society is basically ancient China. It was very fast-paced and fun, and the main character was so fierce and angry. I read this for the prompt of a book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid, because her feet were bound when she was younger and she can't walk well, so she uses a cane and a wheelchair.

Daisy Jones & The Six - 4 stars. But if I hadn't listened to this as an audiobook, this probably would have been 2 or 3 for the story itself. The book is written in the style of nonfiction, like a series of interviews of the band members and those around them. The audio is full cast, with different actors for each character, and comes off more like a radio play. I used this for the prompt, a book becoming a TV series or movie in 2022, since there's a series coming out on Amazon Prime, I believe.

Manga:
Sweat and Soap, Vol. 9
Sweat and Soap, Vol. 10
Sweat and Soap, Vol. 11
Boys Run the Riot, Vol. 3
Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 15
Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 33
After-school Hanako-kun
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Vol. 8
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Vol. 9
Spy x Family, Vol. 5
Spy x Family, Vol. 6
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 20
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 21
Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 23
The King's Beast, Vol. 4
How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1

Currently reading:
Vespertine - reading for the prompt, a book featuring a man-made disaster. It's been a little slower going for me this week, because I've had more going on, but I'm about halfway through and I'm enjoying it.

QOTW: Similar to Shel, I've been primarily a SF/F reader my whole life. While I still read mostly in the genres, in the last 10 years or so I've branched out to read almost all genres, including nonfiction. I think the only genres I actively avoid are "literary" fiction and most horror; I can only read horror from authors I know & trust, or with a group to discuss it with.

[Susan]

Sheri, I really hope life gets into a dull rut for you very soon. Uneventful would be a good state for a while. I am so sorry to hear about your scare with your husband.

I would be willing to take on initiating a weekly post and give you a break for a while. I could start in 2 weeks. Next week I am traveling on Thursday into the weekend. So Feb 10th I could. Let me know if you'd like me to do that. My biggest fear is I have no idea on where to get QOTW questions. You always come up with such good ones and they're very engaging.

For me, I finished Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. That was a lot of fun. This is my 3rd Mary Roach book. I liked it as much as Stiff. I did not like Fuzz as much as these two.

I also finished the second Murderbot novella Artificial Condition and started the third Rogue Protocol. I am very much enjoying these quick stories and this series in particular.

I forgot to mention last time that I'm slowly working my way through Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking. A friend gave it to me as a Christmas gift. It is very interesting, but an intermittent read when I sit down sometimes. I have to be in the mood to read it.

I just started my neighborhood book club book The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear. This is the same author as The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. I am only about 70 pages in and it is making me angry. I also have some Hamilton lyrics going through my head, "Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now." I think it is fantastic that Kate Moore is telling the stories of women who would otherwise be forgotten.

I am listening to the 2nd Thursday Murder club book The Man Who Died Twice. It is as delightful as the first one. He's bringing out even more of the characters. We did this book for January of my neighborhood book club. Everyone enjoyed it.

Sheri - my neighborhood book club will be reading The Vanishing Half for March. I have not started that yet.

QOTW:
When I started posting here (Sheri - how long ago was that, 2017? 2018?) I also exclusively read non-fiction and the occasional Nora Roberts romance. Having people give reviews and links to books easily expanded my world with my TBR list. I almost always look at it to see what I'm in the mood for and often add things to it.

This group is a very positive influence in my reading life! Thank you all for being here and sharing your reads and opinions on books.

[Rebecca]

The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science - I like Poe and I like history of science, so I liked this book. I appreciated that it dealt with the impact of slavery on the science and culture of the day, as well as on Poe's life directly as a Virginian (how had I not previously considered this? yet I had not). Some of the lit-crit stuff got a little eh, and the author kind of led everything up to a late lecture by Poe that I suspect might be a bit less prescient and a bit more nutty than the author's depiction of it.

Assassin's Orbit - I think this was a pretty good book that wasn't really for me. It's got a murder investigation but it's more "what machinations of various galactic factions have led to this" than "which of these people doesn't have an alibi" stuff. Do you like competent women kicking butt, making tough decisions in tight spots, and figuring out this goes all the way to the top? Maybe it's for you!

The Highland Falcon Thief - This is "Adventures on Trains #1" and is a middle-grade mystery novel. Great characters and writing, many fun facts about trains that I could take or leave, decent mystery plot which I solved but I am a grown adult so I probably would've been embarrassed if I hadn't. I would absolutely read more of these if the library had any, but I am unlikely to actually purchase one.

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - These were very well written but often brutal, and not all in the same way: some really poignant stuff, some torture, suicides, serial killer... I would recommend it but check your headspace first, and I'm gonna take a break from sci-fi for a bit now.

QOTW: For most of my adult life I've tried pretty hard to mix it up genre-wise. I've gotten some specific book recs in my less-preferred genres from the group, and probably read a few more sff books than I otherwise would have for book club.

[Trystan]

since last check-in, i read:
*Change Agent by Daniel Suarez
*A High-End Finish (Fixer-Upper Mystery #1) by Kate Carlisle
*Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman

I'm now reading This Old Homicide (Fixer-Upper Mystery #2) by Kate Carlisle. i also have her Bibliophile mysteries on my to-read list too.

QotW: maybe? sometimes a suggestion will pique my interest. :D

[Kathy]

Still off to a slow reading start this year. Favorite so far was The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. I appreciate a good parody of regency romances, and this fit the bill. One of the blurbs was "Delightfully bonkers" and I thought it was apt.
Got the next Stephanie Plum-up to 28. Still had enough lines that made me laugh that I'll probably keep going until Janet Evanovich gives up too.
For my IRL book club, I read the The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Realistic? fiction about an aging Hollywood starlet recounting her past. Not my usual thing but it was a fast read and entertaining.
QOTW: FoE has definitely expanded my reading. I read almost entirely mysteries until my 40s, when I started trying more fantasy after reading Harry Potter (on my own) and then Percy Jackson with my kids. Then I joined FoE, and have expanded to add more fantasy and science fiction. I have much better luck with FoE recommendations than elsewhere, so many favorite authors and series were discovered here and on main page.
I joined an IRL book club about 4 years ago. I am the only "genre" reader, and am glad that we have a policy of no shaming if you bail on the book. I've probably read more mainstream fiction in the past few years from book club than I have in my whole life, and am reminded why it's not usually my thing. There have been a few I've enjoyed, but it's probably about 1/3 I've liked, 1/3 I didn't finish, and 1/3 I powered through but didn't enjoy.
I did book nerds challenge last year and while 85% I would have read anyway, the rest I chose specifically to match prompts and would not have been in my normal TBR pile. Learned that graphic novels still aren't for me, but had a few gems I wouldn't have read without it. So definitely doing again this year! (Thanks Daniele for the prompt list again!)

[Shel]

Kathy wrote: "Still off to a slow reading start this year. Favorite so far was The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. I appreciate a good parody of regency romances, and this fit the bill. One ..."

Kathy, if you're interested in reading more SF/F, I'll invite you (and anyone else!) to come check out my other Goodreads group - I am co-mod for Beyond Reality, and each month we vote on one SF and one fantasy book to read together. We also usually have a series going - we will be starting our next new series in a few weeks (the Uplift books by David Brin).

/shameless plug ;)