Week 14 Check in

[Susan]

Hi everyone,

This week's post is getting out late. I hope everyone is doing well. We're less than 3 weeks away from my daughter's wedding. It is going to fly by.

I only have one finish this week, Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling. I still have to take notes about it because I want to remember the "rules" before returning the book to the library. I'd consider taking his workshop, as he is about an hour away.

Next book up for me is I'm Glad My Mom Died. I will start it tonight.

I'm still listening to European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman. I'm maybe 60% of the way through. This second in the series is a long book. I'm enjoying it, like I did the first one, but it is long.

QOTW:
What are your favorite book tropes? And I mean trope in the positive definition of "recurrent theme" rather than "overused". Often tropes are associated with romance novels, but I think they apply a lot more broadly.

Lately I've been enjoying the "found family" trope. There have been several very enjoyable books like The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches that were in group that I have liked.

[Jen W.]

Congrats on your daughter's upcoming wedding, Susan! I hope all goes well.

I'm excited because NHL playoffs start this week, and both my my original hometown team and my new hometown team are still in it.

Finished:
Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker - 3.5 stars - for Popsugar's book about a family. This is a YA urban fantasy taking place in New Orleans, about Black twin siblings who are part of a powerful magical family. The magic in this is fictional but very reminiscent of Voodoo. I have been interested in both New Orleans and Voodoo for a really long time (I blame Gabriel Knight). Anyway, I really enjoyed this, although it wasn't without flaws.

On Top of Glass: My Stories as a Queer Girl in Figure Skating by Karina Manta - 4.5 stars - for Popsugar's celebrity memoir. I've been a figure skating fan for awhile, and I was lucky enough to see Karina and her partner, Joe, skate live at Skate America. Karina, a bisexual ice dancer who has since retired from competition, was one of the first out queer women skating for Team USA. The chapters are written almost like a series of essays, detailing Karina's struggles not only with her sexuality, but with body image, eating disorders, and the weirdly conservative, gender conforming world of figure skating. Highly recommend for anyone who has an interest in skating.

Comics & manga:
Skip and Loafer, Vol. 6
Persona 5, Vol. 3
The Ancient Magus' Bride: Wizard's Blue Vol. 6
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 4
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 5

Currently reading:
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - not for a prompt (so far). This book does something really unexpected, and I think a lot of people are going to abandon it too soon. The heroine is really unlikable in the beginning. She's supposed to be, because she was basically raised in a xenophobic, fascist cult and at first, she just spouts the party line without thinking. I'm a little over halfway through now, and I've enjoyed the wild ride of her breaking free of her programming and realizing the truths about the world beyond.

Upcoming/Planned:
Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson - for Popsugar's book with author with same initials as you.

QOTW:
I am a huge fan of found family of any kind. I especially love a disparate group of people coming together for a common goal - bonus points if it's assembling a crew for a heist. I love heist stories.

I also love enemies or rivals to lovers romances - ones where the characters hate each other just a little too much, until they realize they have feelings for each other.

I also enjoy a well-done sympathetic villain and/or villain redemption arc.

[Rebecca]

The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding - I thought I had gotten this from someone here, but I don't see it when I search the discussion, so I dunno. I did not like it! I found the characters flat, the writing stilted, and the plot ridiculous.

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question - I know Sheri reviewed this in the group when she read it, and then it came up again in the Epbot Discord during a discussion of problematic authors. It was entertaining and funny, and I can confirm that one does not have to have watched The Good Place to read it, but I'm not sure I really learned anything useful. I feel like if you scratch any of the frameworks you eventually get to "I dunno, I just think it's right." Sure, you can say "try to maximize good," or "do what reasonable people would agree to," or "cultivate balanced virtues," but who's to say what's "good" or "reasonable" or "balanced"? This may be a me problem, and if you are interested in an easily digestible review of Western moral philosophy, with jokes, go for it.

QOTW: This is surprisingly hard. There are a ton of mystery tropes, and I can think of plenty I dislike, and a lot that are just so popular that I've read a lot of them but don't think I'm particularly drawn to them specifically (e.g. snowed in country house party). I like a competent detective (professional or amateur) with a competent sidekick (if applicable) and actual clues, but I don't think those qualify as tropes. I'll probably come up with something obvious as soon as I post this.