Week 43 Check In

[Susan]

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone had a good week. I am getting this out a little late. Happy Halloween coming up this week. The days here in New England are getting shorter and it's getting dark so early now.

I have two finishes this week. First I finished listening to Burn for Me. I really enjoyed this. I cannot wait to start on the next book.

Sadly for me, that has to wait until I finish listening to the neighborhood book club choice, Three Bags Full. This is a sheep detective mystery. It is weirdly fun so far.

I also finished a fun read on my Kindle this week. It was one of my Amazon First Reads choices recently, Chasing Stardust: A Novel. This was fun, light with a lot of David Bowie references in it. I gave it 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 because there were a couple annoying minor details that were wrong that could have been fixed with research.

I now started on another First Reads choice, The Restoration Garden. So far this is okay too but I only just started it. I'm sure I'll have more to say next week.

QOTW:
Do you listen to music when you're reading?

For me the answer is no, not anymore. I used to when I was a teen. Mostly I don't read at a time when that would be appropriate. I listen to audiobooks a lot so clearly that won't mix with music. I almost always read in bed as I'm going to sleep, usually 30-60 minutes. I don't have music available there nor do I want that stimulation as I'm going to sleep.

[Rebecca]

I'm back! I went to Spain. It was fun and I am glad to be home.

Asesinato en el Orient Express - This was a sort-of reread because it just happened to be in the rental. I say "sort of" because I took two semesters of Spanish in college, so I probably wouldn't have been able to get through it if I hadn't already known what was going on. I learned such new vocabulary as "hesitate", "stabbed", and "sponge bag".

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha - I wasn't in La Mancha, but this was the most appropriate thing I could think of to read on the trip. It has some funny moments, but I think it loses something if one isn't really familiar with the chivalric romances or the culture of the time. I got the 1885 John Ormsby translation because it's in the public domain and the library didn't have the ones I found recommended on the internet. There's an extensive introduction in which he is very salty about other translations, and a whole bunch of notes with his thoughts about Cervantes' writing and such; it was almost like a second book narrated by the Opinionated Translator.

QOTW: No, since I'm mostly reading at lunch at work and such. I'm not sure I would really be able to focus on two things at once anyway.

[Jen W.]

Hello! Things have been gray and rainy here this past week. It really feels like it's been affecting my motivation to read.

Finished:

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie - for Popsugar's classic you've never read. I enjoyed it, although I was surprised that Miss Marple wasn't the POV character.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz - not for a prompt. A fun little novella about sentient androids in near-future California opening a noodle restaurant. To me, this has a similar cozy feel to Legends and Lattes.

A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo - not for a prompt. Another excellent novella in the series, but rather dark, about the experiences of people who lived through a famine.

Currently reading:

The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong - not for a prompt.

Upcoming/Planned:

Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines - not for a prompt.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine - for Popsugar's two books with the same title.

Emma by Jane Austen - for Popsugar's book by the oldest author in your TBR pile.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - for Popsugar's book you have always avoided reading (aka the book that's been on my TBR the longest, not one I've been actively "avoiding").

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley - for Popsugar's book that reminds you of your childhood.

QOTW:
Not normally. If anything, there might be something in the environment that I'm not really concentrating on. Like Rebecca, I am usually reading at lunch at work, or sometimes in the evenings after my partner has gone to sleep.