Week 48 check in

[Sheri]

Hi all,

Sorry about the sporadic posting things have been hectic. Been trying to finish half bath remodel, and was trying to get it done before hosting Thanksgiving so took a few days off the week before to get it painted once the tile work was finished so the plumbing could go in. Plumbing got finished the wednesday before Thanksgiving, so we didn't have working lights but we could at least put battery powered lanterns in there and have it usable, so counted that a win! The bathroom was the one right off the kitchen, so was the most convenient one for when we're hosting, so people don't have to go upstairs.

It's been a while since I checked in, I lost track of where I left off. So i'm just going to start with I'm doing an October Daye re-read to get caught up to where I left off last and refresh my memory, so that I can then continue on and get caught up to current. One of the libraries my library joined in a digital collective actually has the October Daye books digitally so I don't have to mess around with library loans for physical books. Usually I buy them when I go to Powells in Portland, but not making it there the last two years means I got behind. Especially with a double drop this year.

Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
One Salt Sea
Ashes of Honor
Chimes at Midnight

Currently reading:

Role Playing - for an online book club, taking a quick break. It's cute. Nice change from having a 20-somethings romance. Also a geek romance, but it's not cringy non-geeks trying to write geeks. Or "yes they're geeks but they're also geeks who have six packs without working out and are model thin with perfect hair".

Iron Flame - audio book. I'm still liking the second, maybe not as much as the first. but also having a harder time getting into an audio groove. it's winter so not doing long walks as much.

QOTW:

How is your reading looking for the year? Are you happy with what you read? Have things you still want to get to?

I'm pretty satisfied. At this point i'm mostly just reading through October Daye, and I have my IRL book club to get through. Might try to do a comic binge too over a few days. I finished popsugar reading challenge, my TBR challenge, I did all of Read Harder except the DNF prompt which i decided was more trouble than it's worth. Most the time if I actually DNF a book there's a reason. ANd most the ones I stopped because I wasn't in the right mood for, I decided I'm STILL not in the right mood for.

[Jen W.]

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well. Ours was pretty quiet, just the three of us.

Finished:
The Future by Naomi Alderman - 3.5 stars - It was an interesting sort of sci-fi, techno-heist sort of story. Pretty enjoyable.

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver - 3.5 stars - this was a cute romance/"chick-lit" story about a woman who moved to New York to escape an abusive ex and finds love, etc. I enjoyed it.

Currently reading:
Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison - I had this book recommended during a writing panel earlier this month and it sounded good.

Upcoming/Planned:
The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec

QOTW:
I'm pretty satisfied. I finished my Popsugar challenge and my Goodreads challenge.

I'm still working on getting caught up on InCryptid (Toby Daye is next on my list after I get caught up on that series! *lol*). I actually have loads of stuff I want to get caught up on, so I have plenty to work in to next year's prompts.

[Shel]

I haven't posted in a few weeks - it's been crazy busy. Three finishes to report since my last post:

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds: for my other GR group. Not my usual brand of SF but once I figured out what was going on I enjoyed it. It felt very "vintage" even though it was only published about 15 years ago. It had a great ending!

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence: I loved this. Two stories that twined together in an unexpected way, with lots of little easter egg references along the way, some more obvious than others. First in a trilogy and the rest hasn't been published yet, I will absolutely be reading the rest when he writes them!

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas: the fourth of her Lady Sherlock books. Just as utterly delightful as the first three.

I'm now reading Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs and I'm absolutely enthralled. I'm about halfway through, and if the second half is as good as the first, it's on track to be a 5-star read.

QOTW: I'm happy with my reading! I haven't finished the entire Book Nerds challenge, but I didn't expect to. I've filled 76/100 prompts with a month to go which is right around my yearly average.

[Rebecca]

I ended up with a bunch of vacation time left, so I am now off more than I am working through the end of the year.

An American Sunrise - This is a book of poems organized around the theme of a Native American woman retracing the Trail of Tears back to her people's original home. There are short prose interludes describing her ancestor's experience, which were very interesting, but the poems didn't really grab me personally. Obviously subjective, your mileage may vary.

Skinwalkers - This is part of a series by a white author who wrote about the Navajo Tribal Police; this one was apparently the breakout hit, bringing his two series protagonists together. It was a decent police procedural with good writing, although the main culprit was made obvious fairly early. The author apparently did his research on the cultural aspects, although I can't personally speak to the accuracy. I wouldn't object to reading another one, but I don't feel I need to.

QOTW: No goals, no challenges, no regrets. I have some holiday stuff lined up to carry me into the new year.

[Kathy]

Hello all-
Had a good Thanksgiving, all three kidbots (plus a gfbot) were home, and I hosted 16 people successfully with the help of 22bot who actually has some chef skills. I've been married 32 years and we've almost always gone to Ohio for Thanksgiving, but I've done it 3 of last four years. I have a Thanksgiving spreadsheet (I'm an engineer, if that wasn't obvious from the previous statement) so that seems to make it manageable for me.
Only book from last few weeks that I might recommend is Hench. More sophisticated version of The Incredibles, in that when you actually add up damage and deaths, the line between heroes and villains is pretty small. Some funny parts too, as well as spreadsheets (see above) so I enjoyed.
I am having the worst reading year since I started recording on goodreads in 2018. I have had a lot of dnfs. Good news/bad news is I just had foot surgery (doesn't hurt much) so I have December to knock off 17 books. I have most of Gail Carriger's and John Scalzi's novellas on kindle, so I am going to read those until I am back on track.