The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion
ARCHIVE Team Challenge: UNO 2023
>
UNO 2023 Pre Challenge Chat
I'm still deciding if I'll really have time to play this year. I've enjoyed it the last three years, but I think we have a busy spring ahead of us. This thread is not helping me make the "responsible" decision. π
Cat wrote: "I still remember the horror one year of realising that I had read a perfect Yellow V a month before UNO started, and then needing it for a Draw 2 with Yellow V and WD4 card. There was much weeping,..."Thatβs itβ¦Iβm for sure saving my yellow book for UNOβ¦yellow is the toughest of them all.
Denise wrote: "Christina wrote: My comfort read
HP again, Philosopher's Stone especially (when I can forget what a horrible person JKR turned out to be)
I really struggle with this, too. I really enjoy the Cor..."
Honestly I think it's less about the money (she has enough tbh I don't think it makes a difference at this point - although I do not want to give her any more of mine either) and more about the attention she and especially everything HP related still gets. YES we do want to distinguish between the art and the artist but in her head she thinks everyone who still interacts with HP stuff at this point FREAKING AGREES WITH HER!!! she makes me so fjoaihsfau ANGRY ugh.
I finally opened the thread on the browser and was able to read the instructions and all, now I understand much better! I have signed up and am excited to learn more and hopefully help my team! π Name: Violeta
π Team Challenge experience: None
π Have you joined UNO before? Never!
π Favourite genres: Fiction in general (Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Thrillers and YA).
π Book you can't wait to read in 2023: Violeta by Isabel Allende, some Brandon Sanderson).
Add me if you want more GoodReads friends, since I'm new here!
Violeta wrote: "I finally opened the thread on the browser and was able to read the instructions and all, now I understand much better! I have signed up and am excited to learn more and hopefully help my team! π ..."
Welcome, Uno was the gateway to my addiction to team reading challenges. Hope you have fun!
Yeah, for quite a few of us UNO was the stepping stone on a slithery path. πβ€οΈ
π My earliest reading memory ; Like a couple others I remember fondly Hop on Pop.π My favourite book growing up. I loved books with regular children who had magical powers.
π The book that changed me as a teenager. I read and reread A Tree Grows in Brooklyn a couple times. I wouldn't say it changed me but it was a comfort in those challenging years.
π The book I discovered later in life. I read Jane Eyre a couple years ago and was glad I now knew the cultural references. I think I would have loved the character like others do if I had read it when I was young.
πThe book I am currently reading. I am reading This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub for a book club. I love time travel books but this book has taken me a while to get into.
Looking forward to UNO!
reply | flag
π My earliest reading memoryEnid Blyton's Fantastic Five Series - I was obsessed with reading each and every one of them. In hindsight, my book tracking obsession started early.
π My favourite book growing up
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the Nancy Drew series, the Hardy boys series. I was a mystery lover.
π The book that changed me as a teenager
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - The main character remains kind even through all the hardships she faces, and that really stuck with me for years.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - In hindsight, I was way too young to read this when I did, but it really freaked me out.
π The book I came back to
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - I had to stop reading this for a while because I was not prepared for how intense it would be. When I came back to it, I was prepared and could actually absorb the book.
πThe book I could never read again
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - I read this book, and while so much of it is beautifully written, I will never read the whole book again. Especially not the triggering parts.
π The book I discovered later in life
Later in life? I'm only 24! That said, I loved Helene Hanff and Walter Issacson when I read them for the first time last year.
πThe book I am currently reading
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
π My comfort read
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
OMG Insiyah! I had forgotten all about Enid Blyton! Those books were the best!!! Thank you for bringing that memory back! I also love The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Kite Runner, and feel the same way about A little life! Cheers.
Violeta wrote: "OMG Insiyah! I had forgotten all about Enid Blyton! Those books were the best!!! Thank you for bringing that memory back! I also love The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Kite ..."I loved the beginning and ending of A Little Life, but the middle was just .... I've read the words 'trauma porn' used to describe it, which sounds about right to me.
Just double-checking--book length doesn't matter for Uno, right?
Unless rules have changed since last year, the page count needs to be 101+
No changes: from 101 pages they count with the certain MPG proviso.
Melindam wrote: "No changes: from 101 pages they count with the certain MPG proviso."Thanks to you both--I meant that we didn't get more points for more pages.
Hi everyone! Iβm Valeria and this will be my first year playing Uno and iβm really excited to share this experience with all of you. My favorite genres all the time would be fantasy and iβm also a quite romance and mystery fan however iβm always open to read different types of books <3
I've been putting off reading lots of books because of colours too. I have what I thought was the perfect pale green one and a yellow one that was maybe half black so I found the Tineye link from previous years and checked. The yellow is good but the green had no green at all! Tineye said it was shades of grey. What a total fizzer. The author is a Z though so that's good
Elisabeth wrote: "I've been putting off reading lots of books because of colours too. I have what I thought was the perfect pale green one and a yellow one that was maybe half black so I found the Tineye link from p..."That tineye can sure be a coloured cover killer, LOL. Think I much prefer Mr Karen's rulings from years gone by..π
Elisabeth wrote: "I've been putting off reading lots of books because of colours too. I have what I thought was the perfect pale green one and a yellow one that was maybe half black so I found the Tineye link from p..."Iβd definitely recommend asking your team for input when time arrives β sometimes Tineye judges colors weird, but if you get a majority ruling that it actually is green, you could still use it. (The change to βusing common senseβ rather than Tineye is one of my favorite rule changes for the past few years when Tineye is especially ridiculous!)
Some new bookish questions. :)I am looking forward to your replies. :)
π Favorite Fictional Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise)
π A book(s) everyone (including friends) seems to love, but you ended up disliking (hating) it
π A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About Liking
π Any books/authors that you feel you should really try, but have never got round to reading yet
π Favorite Fictional Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise) Phedre and Joscelin in the Kushiel series. Joscelin is totally my literary crush, and though they drive each other mad some times, their relationship just works against all the odds.
π A book(s) everyone (including friends) seems to love, but you ended up disliking (hating) it
There are quite a few of these, lol. But I'll go with
. don't get me wrong, I adore the world of Harry Potter and I very much enjoy the later books, but the writing in the first one is terrible, and so condescending it sets my teeth on edge! It took me three attempts in almost as many decades to actually finish it!π A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About Liking
None whatsoever. The only guilt I feel when it comes to books is over the literally HUNDREDS of unread books I have on my shelves at home. ;)
π Any books/authors that you feel you should really try, but have never got round to reading yet
All of them? :D
In all honestly, there are so many, though I've been crossing quite a few off the list these past couple of years. I'm working my way through
, which has many authors I've yet to try, and many of the ones I've already gotten to I have loved!
π Favorite Fictional Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise)Lord Vetinari and Vimes in Discworld. Need I say more??
π A book(s) everyone (including friends) seems to love, but you ended up disliking (hating) it
Usually I'm underwhelmed by overhyped books, rather than hating them. And those I do dislike intensely are usually hated because I've been forced to read them for a challenge (Mrs Fix-It, looking at you, and also all the NBRC challenge people who thought it hilarious to play them against me in Quidditch. That was not a fun reading time!)
π A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About Liking
Like Sammy says, not really how I approach books!
π Any books/authors that you feel you should really try, but have never got round to reading yet
Of the classics? Not many. Brothers K probably the biggest - I loved Crime & Punishment but I never got around to cracking open any other Dostoyevsky. Also, all the books I excitedly buy intending to read instantly and then seeing them slip down the pile...
Cat wrote: "Usually I'm underwhelmed by overhyped books, rather than hating them."Ditto. And also, if it ends up as a BotM, I will either rate it 1 or 3 stars (Terry Pratchett excepted), even if I was the one that nominated it in the first place. If it's popular enough to win the vote, I'm not likely to love it, lol.
Also, I'm now thinking
or
should have been my picks for that question, lol.
π Favourite Fictional Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise)Lan and Nynaeve from Wheel of Time
π A book(s) everyone (including friends) seems to love, but you ended up disliking (hating) it
Harry Potter series. It took many attempts to read the first and I just didnβt like it. Read the second and third book, but I didnβt enjoy. I havenβt read the rest and I donβt plan to either.
π A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About Liking
No, read and enjoy the books you want
π Any books/authors that you feel you should really try, but have never got round to reading yet
N.K. Jemisin
Sammy wrote: "if it ends up as a BotM, I will either rate it 1 or 3 stars (Terry Pratchett excepted), even if I was the one that nominated it in the first place. If it's popular enough to win the vote, I'm not likely to love it, lol..."I can say that the current and last NBRC BOMs have held up really well to being scrutinised: True Biz and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. and whilst the latter might suffer from the "being too popular" curse I don't think the former can!
Cat & Danielle, I am totally with you on both Vimes & Vetinari and Lan & Nynaeve. :)L&N must have been the first couple I have shipped. :)
Wheel of Time is actually the books that people think I ought to read / have read, but which hold zero interest for me. don't know why, as in theory it's totally in my wheelhouse but honestly, the idea leaves me cold. And watching the TV show did not help change my mind!
Cat wrote: "Wheel of Time is actually the books that people think I ought to read / have read, but which hold zero interest for me. don't know why, as in theory it's totally in my wheelhouse but honestly, the ..."Wheel of Time was the first fantasy series I started reading when I was 24-25 and then I ended up reading the last book in the hospital before I gave birth to my son. (I was what they call a "late primigravida π)
I stuck to it because it kind of accompanied me during a great chunk of my life, but I swore I would never read anything that long like that.
I read A Game of Thrones when it came out, but when I realised that it may go on interminably, I refused to read the next book. Also, I was not very taken with it in the first place.
π Favorite Fictional Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise):Otherwise:
- Samuel Vimes & Lord Vetinari from Discworld without a doubt!
Romantic:
- Classics: Bettina Vanderpoel & Fergus Mount Dunstan from The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett deserve
a place in the Hall of Fame for Literary Couples
- Fantasy: Zoe Lalindar & Darien Serlast from Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn
Unromantic - romantic:
- Jenny and Adam from A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
π A book(s) everyone (including friends) seems to love, but you ended up disliking (hating) it
- I love Harry Potter books 1-4, but "hate" or at least strongly dislike books 5-7
There are some other "overhyped" books I did not necessarily hate, but was kind of unimpressed:
- Shadow and Bone
- Cruel Beauty
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (oh OK, I hated these books a little or at least I was super annoyed with them.)
π A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About Liking:
The Ruthshire Chronicles by Jilly Cooper. The best of UN-PC, sexist literary trash! I love Books 1-5/6. (Don't care much about the rest of them.)
Gone with the Wind could be a contender for this, but I did not like it that much.
Also, I guess I have a GR shelf called "guilty pleasures" for a reason. :)
π Any books/authors that you feel you should really try, but have never got round to reading yet
- Maybe I should give Leigh Bardugo another try with Six of Crows, but definitely NOT Ninth House!
- I should get round to read The Cruel Prince some time.
- There are loads of books I should get round to reading, but would take too long to list. :)
Oddly, Ninth House was the only one of Bardugo's books I really enjoyed. The rest was pretty meh. :D
I'm enjoying this!π Favorite Fictional Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise)
Oooo this is hard, and I think it probably changes over time. I think it's probably Mac and Barrons from the Fever Series. However, I also really like Cat and Bones from the Night Huntress Series. Oh, and Claire and Jamie... Outlander... ok this question has me swooning. I wanted to be really adult and name a non-romantic relationship... but now I can't even think of one, let alone pick...
π A book(s) everyone (including friends) seems to love, but you ended up disliking (hating) it
I honestly like almost every book I read, and I tend to be generous with stars. I think the one that stands out right now is A Game of Thrones. It could be the hype, but I just found it kind of boring overall.
π A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About Liking
Nothing! I will proudly flaunt my love of Twilight as forcefully as my love of Jane Eyre. Books are for reading! Books are for being someone or somewhere else. Books are for feeling.
π Any books/authors that you feel you should really try, but have never got round to reading yet
I've never read Janet Evanovich, and I feel like, I probably should.
Sammy wrote: "Oddly, Ninth House was the only one of Bardugo's books I really enjoyed. The rest was pretty meh. :D"Because you like the Horror genre in general? :)
I am a faint-hearted individual, just not for me. :)
Ashley wrote: "A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About LikingNothing! I will proudly flaunt my love of Twilight as forcefully as my love of Jane Eyre. Books are for reading! Books are for being someone or somewhere else. Books are for feeling."
π
I used to get intimidated by friends when I was younger, who would pooh-pooh romance books for example, but thankfully I got over this as well as pretending to be a literary snob.
Being on GR and making friends here and doing these lovely and crazy challenges with you all has broadened my horizon incredibly. I became much more accepting and I love it. β€οΈ
Melindam wrote: "Romantic:
- Classics: Bettina Vanderpoel & Fergus Mount Dunsta..."
Oh, I agree about Gone With the Wind.
Denise wrote: "Melindam wrote: "Romantic:
- Classics: Bettina Vanderpoel & Fergus Mount Dunsta..."
Oh, I agree about Gone With the Wind."
I am so ashamed that I was in my late 20s before recognizing that Scarlett OβHara was a racist, not a role model.
π Favorite Fictional Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise)Aloysius Pendergast and Vincent D'Agosta from the Relic books,
Eliott, Serene and Luke from In Other Lands,
Walker and Maris from Sleeping in Flame, and
Merlin and Lila from Love and Other Pranks.
π A book(s) everyone (including friends) seems to love, but you ended up disliking (hating) it
The Bridges of Madison County
π A Book(s) You Feel Guilty About Liking
I love some terrible books, but so what?
π Any books/authors that you feel you should really try, but have never got round to reading yet
Yup, quite a few. Many of them classics, and many that have been recommended by friends that just end up on the very large pile of to-be-reads.
Melindam wrote: "Sammy wrote: "Oddly, Ninth House was the only one of Bardugo's books I really enjoyed. The rest was pretty meh. :D"Because you like the Horror genre in general? :)
I am a faint-h..."
Honestly? I wouldn't class it as horror (not the first book anyway, haven't read #2 yet). More a moody Urban fantasy.
But I think I enjoyed that one more because it wasn't quite as YA as her other stuff (Goodreads says adult, but I think New Adult is probably the closest).
Jenny wrote: "Yup, quite a few. Many of them classics, and many that have been recommended by friends that just end up on the very large pile of to-be-reads."
Like Murakami? ;) I have a feeling that out of all the people I know on GR, you'd be the one most able to appreciate his... ways... :-D
Kirsten wrote: "Denise wrote: "Melindam wrote: "Romantic:
- Classics: Bettina Vanderpoel & Fergus Mount Dunsta..."
Oh, I agree about Gone With the Wind."
I am so ashamed that I was in my late 20s before recogni..."
She's a perfect example of the flawed protagonist. It was a huge deal that she broke gender stereotypes in the 1930s...but yep. She's super racist. I felt conflicted about continuing to read, but I did want to know how it ended.
Sammy wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Yup, quite a few. Many of them classics, and many that have been recommended by friends that just end up on the very large pile of to-be-reads."
Like Murakami? ;) I have a feeling t..."
I read IQ84, and loved it. I absolutely want to read more of his.
Oh awesome! Didn't realise you'd tried one already. You like cats, so definitely Kafka on the Shore ;)
A good time to put up the Murakami Bingo card, then!
Sammy, you see how faint-hearted I am. :) From what I have read about the book, for me it easily registered as "horroristic", so I just drew the conclusion.
But I bow to your wisdom & experience. :)
Sammy wrote: "More a moody Urban fantasy."This is now my new favorite genre name.
Denise wrote: "I felt conflicted about continuing to read, but I did want to know how it ended."
I think sometimes it's important to read it, even when it's problematic. Even if just to really know that it's an issue, and maybe it helps us understand that issue more or from a deeper perspective. But hey, what do I know!? I too am flawed.
She's a perfect example of the flawed protagonist. It was a huge deal that she broke gender stereotypes in the 1930s...but yep. She's super racist. I felt conflicted about continuing to read, but I did want to know how it ended. I am worried that there is a whole new generation of readers that will not even give older books a try, because the authors lived in and wrote about a world that was not "woke".
It is harder to read a book that show racism or misogyny as de rigueur, but there are some amazing stories out there that are going to be cancelled out of existence and that is a shame. Our shared history shouldn't be whitewashed away, I think.
Sammy wrote: "Oh awesome! Didn't realise you'd tried one already. You like cats, so definitely Kafka on the Shore ;)"And moving that book higher on my mental to-read list now.
Cat wrote: "A good time to put up the Murakami Bingo card, then!"
So very accurate! Though it's missing the Oedipal fixation (not always expressed as weird sex, but generally a theme he seems to like, lol)
Jenny wrote: "She's a perfect example of the flawed protagonist. It was a huge deal that she broke gender stereotypes in the 1930s...but yep. She's super racist. I felt conflicted about continuing to read, but I..."Spot on. I have been trying to read more "classics" lately for this very reason. I often find I dislike them, or struggle to understand the reasoning for things, or just honestly get angry. But I think that's good.
The Perks Of Being A Book Addict
Books mentioned in this topic
The Lehman Trilogy: A Novel (other topics)The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus (other topics)
Daisy Jones & The Six (other topics)
Are You There God? Itβs Me, Margaret (other topics)
Forever... (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
A.R. Pip (other topics)Holly Hepburn (other topics)
Kristen Painter (other topics)
Agatha Christie (other topics)
Louise Penny (other topics)
More...
π "
I loved The Secret Garden, too! π