Week 32: 8/1 - 8/8

[Nadine in NY]

Theresa wrote: "Denise wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "Some people in ATY get oddly angry when ever someone says that a prompt was done for PopSugar ..."


Yeah they really do!!! I think they misunde..."



Oh I LOVE their voting process!! But some people take it a wee bit too seriously haha

[Kendra]

Another 2 week check in. I do mean to check in more often, but oh well.

Stats:
PS: 38/50
ATY: 46/52
ATY Rejects: 18/25
ATY Rewind: 21/25
DBC: 28/36
GR Choice: 19/30


Books I finished:

Twilight Territory ⭐⭐⭐
ATY Rejects: A book with a hidden object on the cover.
I've never really read about Vietnam during WW2 and the aftermath, so it was interesting. The book went in fits and starts though.

Twilight & Midnight Sun ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I felt like a reread of the series. Given Midnight Sun tells the same events as Twilight, I read it 2nd, even though it is listed as book 5.

Regina's Secret Spaces: Love and Lore of Local Geography ⭐⭐⭐
ATY: A book related to land.
I was going through a box of books to donate from my Grandparent's farm and I came across this, so I read through it quick. The pictures were nice.

The Wonder Engine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ATY: A book by an author known by their initials.
I loved this even more than the first book in the duology.

The Grandest Game ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ATY Rejects: A book related to dare.
I'm loving this spinoff series, but I realized I don't remember the last book that well, so now I need to reread that.

In Progress:
New Moon
The Brothers Hawthorne

QotW
42 year old, no question. I wasn't that worried about it at first, but I'm just not finding anything.

[Erica]

Happy check-in! I didn't read much this past week but I did make a chocolate amaretto cheesecake in the microwave that was easy and tasted nearly the same as a regular oven one. The microwave cookbooks have some interesting things for hot summer days.
I too have been glued to the Olympics on tv.

Finished Reading:

A Fate Inked in Blood ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Re-read. My fancy copy has been looking at me. Fun with Norse Mythology.

A Dawn of Onyx ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (ATY second matching cover)
Comfort read from the fantasy genre.

PS 40/50
ATY 49/52
ATY Summer 33/36
Diverse Baseline 28/36
Goodreads 182/250

Currently Reading:

The Grandest Game
The Door of No Return

QOTW:
I'm a bit stalled on popsugar lately. The majority of my final 10 prompts are prompts where you have to research the author.

[Theresa]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Denise wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Dubhease wrote: "Some people in ATY get oddly angry when ever someone says that a prompt was done for PopSugar ..."


Yeah they really do!!! I th..."

Of course you do, Nadine. I know I am in the minority. Itis easy not to engage.

[Ron]

Kendra wrote:

Twilight & Midnight Sun ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I felt like a reread of the series. Given Midnight Sun tells the same events as Twilight, I read it 2nd, even though it is listed as book 5.

*****

In Progress:
New Moon

That's awesome!

I've been in a Twilight mood lately too. I recently got new copies of the books so I can annotate them. I also have screencaps from the movies so I'm turning those into stickers and placing them in the books.

Even though a group I'm in wants to read the books, that won't be until October, but I'm in the mood to start them now so I'll be starting the first book, Twilight , either today or sometime this week.

[Heather]

Theresa wrote: "First - congrats on finishing! I still have 5 books...

On the woman athlete/sports - I bent it a bit myself. I just don't care about sports or athletes enough to read about them in any way. However, one of the MC..."

You're so close!! I love the final stretch of the challenge.

Seeing as I'm a Millennial, I probably wouldn't mind. :) It doesn't seem like my kind of book though. I've had really bad luck with travel memoirs. I feel like a travel memoir is going to be a prompt at some point, and I'm going to actually cry.

[Felicia]

Happy Saturday! Not much happening and not much reading getting done.

Finished:

Book of Night (ATY related to night) 3 stars. I liked the world building. I do wish the characters other than Charlie were more developed. I liked the end so I will end up reading the next book.

The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite (ATY part of a series) 3 stars. I've watched a few seasons of the show but never read the graphic novels before. So far this is even stranger than the show.

Currently reading:

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (ATY going for the gold)

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (ATY prompt that didn't make the list - mushrooms)

Normal People (ATY connected to a Ben and Jerry's flavor - Dublin Mudslide)

QOTW: So far a 42 year old seems to be eluding me.

[Denise]

Heather wrote: "Theresa wrote: "First - congrats on finishing! I still have 5 books...

On the woman athlete/sports - I bent it a bit myself. I just don't care about sports or athletes enough to read about them in..."

In the event that DOES happen...check out sone Bill Bryson. He also used to write a humor column so his perspectives on the places he travels to are quite funny

[Theresa]

Heather wrote: "Theresa wrote: "First - congrats on finishing! I still have 5 books...

On the woman athlete/sports - I bent it a bit myself. I just don't care about sports or athletes enough to read about them in..."

I have an armchair travel shelf - I love them and I have some 5 star reads on it, and a lot TBR. Take a look. You might be surprised at what is there.

[Ellie]

I find a lot of Bill Bryson's books to feel a little outdated now. I liked that he at least redid the UK with The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island. He used to write for the local paper here, so he has a whole bit in it about how the area has gone downhill 🤣

[Ron]

I am flying through the first book, Twilight . Started it this morning and already I'm on chapter 7. I'm reminded how, despite its flaws, how much I love this series. I'm not even reading it fast though it seems like it. I'm highlighting/annotating it so that's taking a while, but I feel like I'm flying with it because I'm already on page 106.

It's great getting into this series again.

[Theresa]

For travel essay for those who are not into those types of books -- and for those who are -- try The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson


It's fiction but the narrowboats on canals and the canals and places are all real. You will fall into a real google rabbit hole looking up reports and videos of them. I totally believe this fits travel essay type books. It' s maybe a tiny stretch.

Plus that cover is irresistible.

[Jennifer W]

I've been poking along all summer at Turn Left At The Trojan Horse: A Would-Be Hero's American Odyssey. It's slow, but it works well for a book I can easily pick up and put down whenever I want. However I have to finish it before the end of the month, so I guess I ought to pick it up more often!

One I read a few years ago and really enjoyed and found quite humorous was Ticket to Ride - Lost and Found in America. It's about an Australian woman who wins a Green Card lottery, but she's got to actually check out America, so she takes a Greyhound bus across country.

[Theresa]

Anyone still needing NaNoWriMo read, a cozy mystery set in Singapore that I just finished fits: Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu - In a Q&A with Louise Penny about writing it that is included, Yu talks about wanting to write a mystery series set in Singapore but being hesitant. Then she heard about NaNoWriMoand decided to just go for it during that and wrote the first draft.

It's only 200 pages, fun, and you will be hungry from all the great food descriptions. I gave it 3 stars.

[Britany]

Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all! Getting a rainy day tomorrow. Hope everyone in the southeast US has been OK with rain and storms from the hurricane. Also hoping the rain only lasts a day up here, we're supposed to go to m..."

I'm slowly slowly reading through The Frozen River too. If you have a kindle copy, throw your kindle in airplane mode and keep it on until you finish it. It won't steal it back until you turn in back into wifi mode. I had to do this already with this one because it's taking me so long to read. I'm about 65% done.

[Britany]

K.L. wrote: "This is also my birthday week, and I’m looking forward to celebrating with my dad over the weekend. We’re planning to have dinner out at one of our favorite local restaurants, and then spend some time playing a new board game."

Happy Birthday KL! Hope it was a great celebration. 🥳💗🧁