Week 23: 6/3 - 6/9

[Nadine in NY]

Katelyn wrote: "Kenya wrote: "DNF:

Klara and the Sun -- I know, I should love this one because it’s about robots. But… I didn’t. Just could not make myself keep reading..."



I had a hard time getting through Klara and the Sun and almost DNF'd a bunch of times. I finished it and you didn't miss much.




omg YES! That book was such a snoozefest. Whatever other readers are seeing in it, I am NOT seeing. Klara's voice was not at all what I expect from a robot. I have lots of negative things to say about Klara but I'll just skip it, because I know a lot of readers loved Klara. It didn't help that I kept reading "AF" as "AS FUCK" instead of "Artificial Friend." Full disclosure: I also hated Never Let Me Go. I think I'll give this author one more try with The Buried Giant, and if that's a dud for me too, I'll never read him again.

[Nadine in NY]

Katelyn wrote: "I am also never a fan of any of the SFF prompts, so this year's #OwnVoices SFF prompt left me dreading it. I chose Klara and the Sun and managed to finish it only to realize that I don't think it fits the prompt. So now I am on the search for another option...."



LOL I do think you are correct, it does not fit "ownvoices" because none of the characters are in any marginalized group along with the author. That's a really awkward sentence but I hope you know what I mean. It does fit a few categories, I'd hate to see you struggle through that book and then not even get to check off a category!! Have you filled BookTok? (yes I think you have), found family (a bit of a reach, but Klara does find a family for herself in this book), about a secret (there are all sorts of secrets, including Klara's lunatic plans (view spoiler)[to save Josie by appealing to the sun god and that paving machine she wants to disable, and Josie doesn't talk about what happened to her sister, and Rick doesn't tell people what his plans for the future are (hide spoiler)]), there is a small party in the book when Josie has some school friends over, maybe you knew nothing about it, maybe you read another book whose title ended in K. And it's a big stretch, but you could say Klara lives a double life, one life as a robot in a store and another life as a part of Josie's family - that's such a big stretch that you're probably better off just using this as you originally intended, for ownvoices.

[Britany]

How do household chores just never end? It never ceases to amaze me that I am one person living in a tiny apartment and yet it just never ends. Every weekend chores must take place, dust appears and dishes pile up. I just cannot understand (lol). It's also cold in Chicago today, but we are getting a heat wave next week so I'll take the cooler temps while I can!

34/80 GoodReads Challenge
29/50 PopSugar Challenge

Finished:
1.) Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (No PS Prompt) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: My first 5 star read of the year. This was amazing for me, it was gritty, tender and heartbreaking. Major trigger warnings, not for the HSP reader. I can picture this being made into a Tarantino film.

2.) The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf (#19- Fave Season || Winter) ⭐⭐⭐1/2: I love Gudenkauf for the random thriller. This was good, and I was invested, but it jumped the shark a tiny bit towards the end. I confused a few of the characters and I wasn't sure that the actions of the characters lined up with their motivations.



Currently Reading:>
1.) The House in the Cerulean Sea



QoTW: Is there any one prompt from the 2022 Popsugar challenge that you are dreading/avoiding/putting off? If so, which one is that? Why does it seem so dreadful to you?
ummm I try to read pretty diversely, but I do not enjoy SciFi, so there's always a handful that I dread along those lines. This year, it's the #OwnVoices SFF and the Hugo prompts. I usually have a few of the very popular ones I can put in for these prompts, so it works out, but these are always towards the end for me to fulfill.

[Nadine in NY]

Britany wrote: "How do household chores just never end? It never ceases to amaze me that I am one person living in a tiny apartment and yet it just never ends. Every weekend chores must take place, dust appears an..."


LOL it's like you're spying on me! I have so much to do today!!! And I've gotten very little of it done ...


I wouldn't mind cleaning if things just STAYED clean, but oh no, it's a constant battle.

[Megan]

I missed last week's check-in and almost forgot to check-in this week. I finished just one book but am very close to finishing a couple of my books-in-progress books. No changes in my challenge prompt totals (11/40 and 3/10). I'm at 33/75 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Finished:
*Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, which I ended up skimming quite a bit. I'm a little disappointed because I saw so many positive reviews when it came out. I guess the one plus was that something that I was doing to keep track of work projects was something that was described in the book -- I apparently had good time management instincts since I started doing it before I read about it. Meh! Worth a try but this was not for me.

Currently Reading:
* Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward;
* The Glass Devil by Helene Tursten, which I'm almost done with and will use for one of the advanced prompts;
* Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum, which one of my book clubs was supposed to discuss this past Friday but the meeting fell through. Hopefully we'll get together next month since it should be a great discussion; and,
* Midlife Bites: Anyone Else Falling Apart, Or Is It Just Me? by Jen Mann. My library hold came in unexpectedly, so I went ahead and started it.

QotW:
Is there any one prompt from the 2022 Popsugar challenge that you are dreading/avoiding/putting off? If so, which one is that? Why does it seem so dreadful to you? I wasn't super-excited about many of the prompts this year, so I have been dragging a bit on all of them. I keep thinking books I finish will work for an open prompt since I have so many, but nope -- I had much better luck in past years with my mood reads matching prompts after the fact.

Of the main prompts, the one I'm least excited about is probably "a book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page." I tend to ignore those quotes since I've heard that authors don't always read the books they're asked to blurb and it just seems like the publishers' attempts to sell more books. I'm also not super-excited about the man-made disaster prompt because I'm pretty sure those options are going to be depressing and potentially feel like something I'm being forced to read rather than something I want to read (even though I get to choose the title). Of the advanced prompts, I'm least excited about the duology prompts, mainly because it seems like that will be harder to find than a trilogy and possibly hard to find a good option in my preferred genre (mystery).

[Britany]

Melissa wrote: "Hello! This week was hard. We had to say goodbye to my cat yesterday after the vet confirmed her heart medication had messed with her kidneys. She wasn't eating or drinking, and had no energy to do..."

I'm so sorry about the loss of your cat Melissa. Our furballs hold such a special place in our hearts.

[Britany]

Theresa wrote: "Razorblade Tears - brutal and beautiful. Not for the faint of heart. Total 5 star.."

COMPLETELY agree Theresa. I just finished this one and loved it too.

[Katelyn]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Katelyn wrote: "I am also never a fan of any of the SFF prompts, so this year's #OwnVoices SFF prompt left me dreading it. I chose Klara and the Sun and managed to finish it only to realize that I ..."

Ooohh I really like the idea of using it for "Found Family" that is a great idea! Thank you!

[Ron]

The Own Voices SFF was a book I dreaded at the beginning. I was able to find some literary journals that ended up working.

[Britany]

Nadine in NY wrote: "LOL it's like you're spying on me! I have so much to do today!!! And I've gotten very little of it done ...


I wouldn't mind cleaning if things just STAYED clean, but oh no, it's a constant battle."

I KNOW, what IS that?? I mean where does it even come from?? I cannot understand!! The dust always keeps coming, the dirt tracks itself in and the dishes pile up. The sheets must get washed and the floors must be cleaned... it's neverending... :P