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I have been thinking about this ever since Lanelle posted it. It's pretty hard to say yes, just one. I've been a voracious reader my entire life. But one book that truly changed my life is B.K.S. Iyengar's Light on Yoga. Studying yoga pulled me through some pretty tough things. This book is what got me started.
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When they write books with so many characters that you just never feel like you get to know any of them - so you have to spend a lot of time flipping back to try to figure out who someone is and how they're connected.
Erica wrote: "What is your number one pet peeve about authors?When they write books with so many characters that you just never feel like you get to know any of them..."
YES! And when they write a "To Be Continued" cliffhanger book. I've read books that ended mid-sentence.
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When they write books with so many characters that you just never feel like you get to know any of them..."
YES! And when they write..."
Oh my God... MID-SENTENCE??? That's HORRIBLE!!!
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Yes I did and have surpassed my goal. I never predict well how much I'll read. This has been a good year for me!
Did you set a yearly reading challenge here on Goodreads? How are you doing?You will not believe how complicated a question that is for me. I usually set my yearly reading goal at 120, intending to read 110 expecting 10 or so short stories. Officially, I'm at 116 but some of those are short stories, so It's more like 102 though my 2023 shelf says 111.
So at 102, with 7 weeks left, I'm doing great to get to 110! Or at 116 out of 120.
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Erica wrote: "Marla, that is impressive. There is no way I could read that much in a year."Ha, ha. Thanks, Erica.
But here at GRs I've met several friends who read 300+ and even 500+ books a year. Now that boggles my mind.
Did you set a yearly reading challenge here on Goodreads? How are you doing?Yes. The goal this year was 150 and I've read 224.
When I first started, I used to go up each year if I made it but decided a year or so ago just to stick with 100 - 150 as the goal and the rest would just be bonus reads.
Marla wrote: "Erica wrote: "Marla, that is impressive. There is no way I could read that much in a year."Ha, ha. Thanks, Erica.
But here at GRs I've met several friends who read 300+ and even 500+ books a ye..."
I'm one of those weirdos. I think I will end up at around 500 this year.
Part of it is that I get to listen to books at work, so I am always reading either print or audio.
Plus, I am a team challenge addict, and always end up reading to help out whatever team I am on.
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Name a series in which the second book was BETTER than the first.
Name a series in which the second book was BETTER than the first.I couldn't think of one, so I researched a little and these are the first 10 I found in my ratings...
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Have you ever stayed up all night reading because you just could not stop? What was the last book to hold your attention so completely?Yes, sometimes I look at the clock when I'm reading and it's 2 am. Yikes. It happens all the time with Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books and Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson. So I can't read them at night. :D
Have you ever stayed up all night reading because you just could not stop? What was the last book to hold your attention so completely?I have in the past, but definitely not lately. Not because there hasn't been anything to hold my attention, but just because I haven't been able to stay up.
Usually when I'm engrossed lately, I end up falling asleep reading because sleep won out.
Marla wrote: "Have you ever stayed up all night reading because you just could not stop? What was the last book to hold your attention so completely?Yes, sometimes I look at the clock when I'm reading and it's..."
I love the Mercy Thompson series!!!
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Me, too!
I have a sister that just moved to the Tri-Cities area. I can't get her interested in the books :(
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Do you have a new favorite author that you have recently discovered?
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I recently found Kelly Barnhill, who writes both adult and YA/children's. Really enjoying her work.
And in the past year+ I have gotten into Colson Whitehead. He is amazing!
Do you have a new favorite author that you have recently discovered? I like character driven murder mysteries and I've found Mike Omer and Dot Hutchison in the past year.
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What is the best or most unusual book recommendation you have ever received?Not sure if it's the best, but I loved it and it led me to an author who is now on my 1 click list (which is very short).
Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley
There have been some ups and downs through my reading experiences, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.
What is the best or most unusual book recommendation you have ever received?I did a reading challenge in 2021 and I read a few books that I never would've read otherwise. Here are the ones I enjoyed most of the unusual suggestions...
Suspense - The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor ★★★★
Horror - 24690 by A.A. Dark ★★★★.5
SciFi/Steampunk - We Care For You by Paul Kitkatt ★★★.5
Romance - Float Plan by Trish Doller ★★★★
Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic - Folsom by Tarryn Fisher & Willow Aster ★★★★
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Have you ever deliberately left a finished book behind in a public place for a stranger to discover? If so, did you ever hide so you could see who picked it up?I have left books in public places (they were designed for it, like a book box in my uncle's apartment laundry room when I was a teen, so it may not count), but never stuck around to see who picked them up. But now you've given me an idea.
I found this really spoken book like that years ago when I was a teenager. It was supposedly based on a true story about an exorcism. Scared the crap out of me. I remember being scared, where I got the book, but can't remember the title or author, even though I wish I did so I can read it again.
Have you ever deliberately left a finished book behind in a public place for a stranger to discover? If so, did you ever hide so you could see who picked it up?I have never seen who picked it up, but I have left books in the leave & take areas of hotels, my sister's condo & on the bookshelf in my last AirBnB.
Once I purposefully left a paperback book on a bus and I fantasized that someone picked it up and read it. Unfortunately, I've also accidentally left books on buses, in taxis and at bus stops. Never on an airplane and never a library book.
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I was given a book in Danish (!!) that I could not read. I hung on to it for several months because I knew we were traveling to Sweden this past summer. I brought it with and left it at the B & B we stayed at in Stockholm. I hope someone will make good use of it!
What is the worst book you've read so far this year? And why?The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen - 2 stars
Maura Isles (view spoiler) the Mephisto Club is strange and the villain was weird.
What is the worst book you've read so far this year? And why?The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz
I have read many books by Horowitz and the Alex Rider Series. This book was a mystery about himself. Not at all what I expected and he spent the entire book running around "who dunnit" to clear his name of murder.
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Who is your favorite villain?I like serial killer murder mysteries. My favorite villain is Gretchen Lowell dreamed up by Chelsea Cain. So graphically violent that this series isn't for the squeamish, but Gretchen is like a female Hannibal Lector and I like Cain's writing more than Thomas Harris.
Erica wrote: "What is the worst book you've read so far this year? And why?"
I like reading Fantasy & Science Fiction. This book made me glad I checked it out of the library and didn't spend money on it:
From the MPGs I thought yes! this is the kind of book I'd like to read right now! Here are its MPG's:
Science Fiction
Fiction
Fantasy
Speculative Fiction
Dystopia
Politics
Space
Why worse of the year (that I finished)? Parts of the novel were confusing and never cleared up. None of the characters were sympathetic. Apparently there were jokes, but I didn't "get" any of the jokes. I would have DNF'd it but I was reading it in a situation where there were no other books available.
25% of my reads this year have been 5 stars. Here are the top 5 of the year (so far)
and honorable mention for best-of to 2 memoirs:
Donna wrote: "Have you ever deliberately left a finished book behind in a public place for a stranger to discover? If so, did you ever hide so you could see who picked it up?"My daughter's sub-division has a free library kiosk next to the playground. I've left books (3 star reads) there on occasion. No, I've never seen who picks it up.
Lanelle wrote: "Today's question is in honor of my newest grandson, who was born a few weeks ago. Do you have a new favorite author that you have recently discovered?"
I liked the novel written by Kathryn Walker and also the novel written by Scott Wilbanks. In both cases, the novel was published 5+ years ago, and is the only book each novelist has published.
I also liked the new-to-me novel by Marcel Theroux. He has more than one published novel so I'll be looking for more from him in the future.
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Donna wrote: "Have you ever deliberately left a finished book behind in a public place for a stranger to discover? If so, did you ever hide so you could see who picked it up?"If I am traveling, I will leave a book behind in a hotel or B&B or the like.
I have never laid in wait to see if anyone picked them up because, you know, check out times and train schedules to meet.
Lanelle wrote: "December has holidays that people the world over celebrate. Does your reading reflect those holidays, or does your book selections not really change?"I more often read xmas books not during the xmas season for some reason. I like that little bit of cheer in July when it is bloody hot outside with no end in sight.
I do often go overboard on the xmas movies or classics like Rudolf.
December has holidays that people the world over celebrate. Does your reading reflect those holidays, or does your book selections not really change?My reading doesn't change much, since I will read holiday books at any time throughout the year.
However, I will attempt to make a concerted effort to read certain types of books depending on the season, but it doesn't always work out.
And like Jenny, I will watch a lot of Christmas movies this time of year, but also in July when Hallmark does Christmas in July.
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This present is no longer available.
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This is really hard for me because I don't watch much TV or movies so I don't know many actors. But I've always loved Tom Hanks. Favorite book is hard to specify too. So let's go with the All Creatures Great and Small series. Tom would make a lovely country vet if he could get the heavy accent right.
If your favorite book (or a book you recently rated 5 stars) was made into a movie, who would you cast as the leads?I'm going to go with one of my favorite series: The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning
The person to come to mind that I feel can be Mac 1.0 (Rainbow Girl) and her later badass personification is Scarlett Johansson.
Although I do have to say when I think of the southern girl part before everything else it reminds me of Reese Witherspoon.
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Is there a book by a favorite author you just can't stand? What makes that title so different from their other work?The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson
I am not a fan of reporters playing detective. The character development was 2nd hand as the reporter, Ochs Jones, relayed to us what each of his interviewees did and said. Since I am drawn in by the characters, this was not my type of story. I was bored with the story and there were lots of in depth, but unnecessary descriptions and lots of down time,
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The Challenge Factory
Books mentioned in this topic
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time (other topics)The Reunion (other topics)
The Thomas Berryman Number (other topics)
All Creatures Great and Small (other topics)
White Cat, Black Dog: Stories (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Marcel Theroux (other topics)Scott Wilbanks (other topics)
Kathryn Walker (other topics)
Kristen Ashley (other topics)
Mike Omer (other topics)
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When an author I love is in the middle of a series, but instead of completing the one I'm already reading they start a new one.
I have a fear of not getting the next book. 😂
It's funny to me, but it has happened. So, with new to me authors I tend to check to see if the series are finished first. I can move forward if it's a series of standalones that don't have a connected plot, but otherwise I need them to be a completed series.