What else are you reading, just for fun.

[Cheryl]

Pat of Rocks said elsewhere:

"I like learning about what others are reading for inspiration and I'm always curious about the motivations. We could do a periodic, no-shame "what was the last non-time travel book you read" and instead of focusing on if someone liked it, tell us about some of the "why's":
- why you chose that book
- why (or how) it was on your TR list
- why you chose to read it right now?

For example, right now I'm finishing a kids-level graphic novel called Wings of Fire. Not my usual jam. Why did I read it? Because I lost a bet to my 10 year old, and winner picked a book the other had to read."

[Cheryl]

I always read what my kids were reading until they were in high school, and even then I would at least try to be aware. Not to censor, but to be ready if they had questions or if they wanted to share their reactions.

And I'm still in the habit of reading children's books, and so am co-mod of the Children's Books group here on goodreads and have a perfect excuse to read all I want, even though my own are grown.

Right now, though, my 'no shame' book is Unlocking the Spell which is truly just for fun. It's a kid version of pulp chick lit, tbh. The first book in the series, The Wide-Awake Princess, is more thoughtful and worth recommending, but so far the second seems too light for most avid readers of any age.

The 'hard' book that I just finished is also not quite recommendable. Lost for Words: The Hidden History of the Oxford English Dictionary is meticulously researched from archives that include some of the first proof sheets. I thought that I was a word nerd, but tbh it took a long time to get through the book. And it can be summed up as "The OED was never meant to be anything like prescriptive, and despite the expense & decades of construction, turned out to be not nearly as authoritative or complete as any of its editors, publishers, or readers want it to be. For so many reasons."

[Samantha]

Apparently I'm on a music kick because I'm working on:

Who's Sorry Now? by Connie Francis, who I adore. Her writing style is very conversational and spunky, like the characters she played on screen. I know that her movies overall are kind of bad, but I love her so much I don't mind. I picked this one up at Half Price Books recently.

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout. Louie Armstrong was a genius and his music never fails to make me feel uplifted. I love his gravelly voice and his bright, distinctive trumpet sound. Although I've picked up pieces of his life here and there over the years, this is the first biography I've read about him. I got this from the library.

I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela DesBarres is a slice of the hippie life and she and her friends remind me very much of the Band Aids in Almost Famous. Her life of impulse and vulnerability is so distinctly different from my own, but she didn't live her life that way because she was trying to shock people or fit into the times. She did it because that's who she was, so I have lots of respect for her. I got this from the library.

I heard about Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James The Shondells on an episode of Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast and it reminded me of how much I like Tommy James's music, but also intrigued me to learn about the stories behind it.

[Pat of Rocks]

As acknowledged previously, I just finished The Wings of Fire, book 1 and like Cheryl said, being able to talk about it and have another thing in common with my kids was an added bonus. What's kind of neat about this series is that it's in both novel and graphic novel formats, so the story is accessible to a broader range of readers.
...oh, and there was a cliffhanger ending and neither of my girls will say what happens next, so yeah...I might have to keep reading!

[Cheryl]

The Dragonet Prophecy? Currently 0 of 23 paper copies are available at my big library, and the ebooks and audiobooks are also checked out, so it's popular! Fortunately there's a spare copy at my smaller one so I've put in a request.

[Cheryl]

I'm also rereading Children of Time in prep for finishing the trilogy with another group. Unfortunately the word Time in the title does not indicate a TT story.