Week 2 & 3 check in

[Sheri]

Hi all,

Sorry i missed last week and getting the poll set up. It's been extremely cold and work's picked up a bit and just didn't have a chance to make a post while at my computer.

Book Club I have made a poll here https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... Vote for what you want and I'll leave it for a week or so and announce the winner.

This week I read:

Highfire - not what i expected. Foul mouthed swamp dragon hiding out in the bayou, trying to avoid humans and their cameras an high powered weaponry. Ends up befriending a kid and getting pulled into the New Orleans underworld.

When Sorrows Come - this is probably my favorite toby book so far! And that's why i'm taking a bit of a break from continuing because i read the blurb from the back and realized the next one is where everything goes down and I want to just wallow in the "yayyy" for a bit. They deserve a break ok?

Leaping Beauty: And Other Animal Fairy Tales - cute book of fairy tale retellings re-written to involve animals.

A Killing Frost - more toby

The Library at Mount Char - read this for my tbr challenge, have had it for years and kept never reading it. It was so weird, and out there but i liked it overall.

Nettle & Bone - audio re-read for my irl book club. Loved it the second time around too! and for a change, everyone seemed to like the book.

QOTW:

Im just borrowing from popsugar this week: Do you judge books by covers? How does it it affect your reading?

I absolutely do. If I'm wandering a book store or library, the pretty/interesting/eye catching covers are what make me stop and pick a book up to read the back/cover or look it up. If i hear a book is good and it has a bad cover, i won't refuse to read it, but i'll probably want to just get it on kindle from the library or an audiobook. I wouldn't spend money for a book on my shelf that wasn't going to look nice. (at least nowadays, i was less picky when i was younger and shopping mostly used)

[Jen W.]

Happy Thursday! It's been snowy and icy here, so good weather to stay home and curl up with a book or video games. :)

Finished:
Babel by R.F. Kuang - 4 stars - for Popsugar's one-word title. Just a beautiful story about the power of words and language and commentary on colonialism.

Currently reading:
Herc - for Popsugar's book with at least 3 POVs. This is a kind of an irreverent, modernized retelling of the story of Heracles. I love Greek mythology, although he's never been my favorite character. I do appreciate that the author really did her research.

Upcoming/Planned:
Most Ardently - for Popsugar's LGBTQ+ romance novel
So Let Them Burn - for Popsugar's book that features dragons

QOTW:
It's easier not to when I read eBooks, so I don't have to look at the cover, but I definitely still do. I am a sucker for a beautiful cover, and even better, when the author has artwork done of their characters.

[Rebecca]

I didn't end up getting covid, and the husband recovered just in time for our planned visit to his family, so that was a nice relief (and a nice trip).

A Brief History of Black Holes: And why nearly everything you know about them is wrong - I bought this because I enjoy Dr. Becky's YouTube and the library never got it. I didn't learn a whole lot that I hadn't already encountered in college astrophysics* or other pop-sci books, but if you're not up on your black hole knowledge, it's very readable and engaging.

All My Friends are Superheroes - Again, thought I got this one from someone here, but either I'm wrong or the discussion search is still not fully working. Very short and quirky, with the superheroes being mostly metaphorical but not quite.

What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner - I was a bit disappointed with this, as it was less the story of the atoms and more the story of the scientists who made discoveries about various steps in the atoms' process. I usually like history of science stuff but I felt bait-and-switched.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - Some Epbot folk gave me permission to skip the reportedly sad third book and read this one (first? instead? we'll see). I found it more like the first than the second, with little plot and mostly character study from various points of view. I enjoyed it.

QOTW: My cover-judging has been impeded in the last few years by library closures, but when I was browsing, yeah, eye-catching things...catch one's eye.

*Don't be impressed: it was probably the easiest class in the physics department, taught by an instructor from the nearby STEM high school who found out during the semester that the university would not be renewing his contract, which news he... did not receive with perfect equanimity.

[Shel]

I had a rough start to the month and didn't have the energy to pick up a new book until the second week in - which is unlike me! It's just been super stressful. But I managed to get back into my reading groove and have since finished:

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz (title isn't vertical on the cover). I'd never read any of their books before, but I heard them interviewed on a podcast and I was intrigued by this one. It's...weird. I liked it, but it's definitely on the wacky side of SF. There's a flying moose, and a train who falls in love with a cat. Among other things.

Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey (prolific author). Fun finish to the origin story trilogy about the founding of the kingdom of Valdemar. Typical Lackey escapism and exactly what I needed in the moment.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi (nonhuman characters). Exactly what I expected - fun snarky tone but with some substance to it instead of pure silliness. I love Scalzi.

Now I'm about halfway through Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas, book 5 of the Lady Sherlock series. I just love these.

QOTW: A pretty cover will make me pick up a book to see what it's about, but if the blurb doesn't sound interesting I won't bother. I've also seen enough terrible covers on wonderful books that I won't let a bad cover turn me off if it sounds like an interesting story.

[Susan]

Hello all,
My reading has been sporadic lately. I have no finishes but I have a bunch in progress.

I was in the middle of The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness. But I have put that aside for the moment. So far it is pretty interesting and a bit frustrating too. I'm about 40% of the way through.

I put that book aside to do a quick reread of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches for neighborhood book club next week. It is a fast read so far and I'll finish in time. I'm enjoying it this time around too. I hope the others like it since I suggested it!

I'm listening to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. It looks like I'm about 20% of the way through. It is engaging so far but looks to be a pretty long book so I'll be listening to this one a while.

QOTW:
Like Shel an interesting cover might make me pick it up and look at it. Mostly that happens at the library because otherwise I'm listening or downloading e-books to the kindle so that's the only place I really see books and covers. I often order my library books online ahead of time so even then I don't browse much anymore.

[Lindsay]

This week I finished a recent ARC that I won in a Goodreads Giveaway, and it was an absolutely delightful queer YA romance. The main characters were both marching band students (different bands), in New York City for the thanksgiving parade. They get separated from their groups the day before Thanksgiving, and spend the day exploring the city. The books is This Day Changes Everything by Edward Underhill.

I also finished my next book in the Thursday Next series, One of Our Thursdays is Missing, which was as weird and wonderful as the rest of the books in the series.

And on tap for this week is The Wedding Date on audiobook and Iron Flame.

[Jen W.]

That ARC sounds cute, Lindsay. I'm a sucker for anything about exploring NYC. I'm definitely adding that one to my TBR.