Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2022 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 20: 5/12 - 5/19
I finished The arch of stars as my book with a constellation. It was terrible. My parents' neighbor died a few years ago and 2 years ago her son had a tag sale and there were tons and tons of books. I bought a whole box. Most of them are not really good. This one wasn't even in GR. I had to manually add it. Which means, nobody's been reading this. This should have been my first clue.Anyway, I have stared Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 as my book about a man-made disaster. Hopefully this will be more interesting.
QOTW: No. I don't think I'm imaginative enough to actually imagine the food.
Mod
That's an interesting backstory though!! I hope you find a gem hiding in the bottom of the box
Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy Thursday!!听听 Today I go get my college kid and bring her (and all her stuff) home for summer. I've been so focused on making sure I've got everything I might need for the trip that I forgot i..."Good luck with your college kid. And EAGLE CHICKS! I live in an area that's said to have the highest concentration of birds of prey in the world (southern Idaho) and I still find raptors of any kind amazing... and yes, their chicks are hideously cute.
Good morning, everyone! So鈥 took a look at my TBR checklist this week and, as much as I hate to admit it, I think it鈥檚 time to take another break from buying books.
Rather than setting a specific goal for myself in terms of the number of books I have to read before my buying ban ends (like I did earlier this year), I鈥檝e decided to give myself a time limit instead. Starting today, I will not be allowed to buy any books until July 1st.
Hopefully this will allow me to make a sizable dent in my rapidly growing TBR.
老虎机稳赢方法: 261/200
TBR checklist: 221/1140
Finished Reading:
~The Crimson Skew
~The Hammer of Thor
~The Crucible
~Kill the Farm Boy
~The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy
Currently Reading:
~The Art of Film Magic: 20 Years of Weta
~A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18
QOTW:
I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever read a book that made me feel hungry.
Happy Thursday, folks.I FINISHED THE CHALLENGE! I finished the last book of my challenge May 16, and got everything nicely wrapped up. I'll have to go post in the "I finished" thread here shortly...
Books read this week:
We Sold Our Souls -- for 鈥渁 book about a band or musical group.鈥 Not as good as Hendrix鈥檚 other books, and his formula is starting to get slightly repetitive. Still a decent read, though.
An Unnatural Life -- not for the challenge. Interesting concept and a meaningful message about prejudice, but the story itself is a bit of a clunker (view spoiler).
ESSIE'S HOUSE -- not for the challenge. This鈥 was not a good time to read a book where the main character was angsting over an abortion in her past, not with the current political climate the way it is鈥
The Awakening Storm -- graphic novel, not for the challenge. A little predictable but still a lot of fun, and the characters鈥 various personalities bounced well off each other.
DNF:
A Memory Called Empire -- not for the challenge. I鈥檓 starting to wonder if I just don鈥檛 like space opera as much as I thought I did鈥 this one just didn鈥檛 work for me. Way too slow and the characters were flat as the paper they were on.
Currently Reading:
Indistinguishable from Magic -- chipping away at this, it's a book of essays so I just read one every couple of days...
The Hidden Palace
The Stories of Ibis
Nettle & Bone
Rune Scale
QOTW:
I do this quite a bit. Reading Sourdough for the challenge this year made me crave some good sourdough bread, and Pie made me want to bake a pie...
Hi everyone. I haven't checked in in a few months. My husband was in the hospital for a long time, and he ended up having a heart transplant. He is home now, and things are much better. Also, work has been insanely busy. I miss checking in here.Finished:
Sea of Tranquility
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Crow Lake
Fevered Star
This was a really good run of books. All were 4 stars.
Currently reading
The Trees
The Overnight Guest on audio
QOTW:
This happens to me all the time. I like reading cozy mysteries set around food, and I am always getting suggestions for something I want to eat. I just can't remember any off the top of my head. This also happens with movies, TV, or just talking to people about what they're eating. Most recently when talking to my sister she said her husband was making her a mushroom omelet. So the next day I just had to make myself a mushroom omelet. It was terrible. I do not know how to make omelets, they always turn into terrible scrambled eggs.
Mod
How incredibly stressful. I'm glad he's home recuperating now. I hope you had some good books to get you through the stressful hospital stay.
Oh, movies. I went INSANE after I saw Big Night with Stanley Tucci, because I came home to my empty apartment and poorly stocked pantry and all I had that was close to what I saw in the movie was a bottle of Pellegrino (and I am sure I had a box of pasta in the house, too) so I made do with that.
And I also do not know how to make an omelet. They look pretty simple, but maybe I just don't have the right pan.
I just got back from voting! Our campus is always a voting site and I LOVE that. The only downside is that the humidity is super high, so halfway through my walk to the site, I felt like I needed a shower. In other news, my sister's company was looking for some new freelance writers and she suggested me. I've only ever done professional proofreading and editing, not writing, so I was grateful they took a chance on me. I submitted my first article this week and apparently they were really impressed! That was a huge relief--I'm now officially one of their writers!
I'm going to be exhausted and will read even less, but I really, really want a house, so this will help me work toward that dream. And it was fun writing the article!
Finished:
Not a thing. I don't even think I made progress on anything.
Currently Reading:
Daughter of the Forest - my mom was lovely and bought this on audible so I could listen to it! I have a super short commute, but I figure it'll still get me through the book faster than my current pace (which is non-existant).
Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People - we'll cover chapter four next week, so I should make a bit more progress!
QOTW:
Absolutely! Redwall comes to mind--the food in those books always made my mouth water. I even bought the cookbook! The Nero Wolf books by Rex Stout also always made me hungry (I actually bought that cookbook for my parents).
Even though I didn't like the book, Crazy Rich Asians also made me super hungry.
And of course, Roald Dahl knew how to write food! That man was a candy connoisseur and it shows. I have the cookbook he and his second wife wrote together. It was actually what he was working on when he passed away, so I believe it's the last thing he ever wrote!
I'm sure there are more, but those are the first that came to mind. I love when an author is able to make the food seem real!
Happy Thursday! We have a mama robin sitting on two chicks and it never ceases to amaze me, how fast they grow. Just a week ago they barely had any fluff at all, then the next day considerably more fluffy, and then two days later actual feathers were coming in! It boggles the mind.I started watching American Crime Story's second season, about the assassination of Gianni Versace, on a whim this week and it ended up sucking both me and hubby in. I'll probably watch s1 (OJ Simpson) without him, because he actually remembers all of that as it happened. Not sure if we'll watch s3 (Impeachment).
Book-wise, I've started a bunch of stuff and only finished one thing this week, which is... fine, considering ACS swallowing my reading time.
And since I've just now finished Finding Me, 2 books! Yay!
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen - 4 stars. This would've worked well for Book with a misleading title because it's technically more of a memoir than an actual history of Hawaii, but I used it for Book set during Victorian times, because Queen Lili'uokalani traveled to England and actually met Queen Victoria.
Finding Me - 5 stars. If you listen to one audiobook this year, make it this one. Incredible.
PS 29/50
Currently:
Shorefall
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Millennium World, Vol. 4: Birth of the Dragon
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
Gotham City Sirens: Book One - reread
The Silmarillion
Do books ever make you so hungry that you HAVE to make the food the characters are eating?
Oh good gosh, yes. And if not the actual food, something similar.
Fonda Lee made me want to try crunchy squid balls SO BADLY whenever I picked up a Green Bone Saga book (Jade City), so I settled for calimari every time.
Brooklyn made me crave Italian food and potatoes simultaneously (which deeply appealed to my Irish-Italian self).
I have a GR shelf called food-glorious-food specifically for books that have amazing food descriptions and make me hungry lol
ETA: The only book that has ever made me bone-dry THIRSTY was Neal Shusterman's Dry. It reminded me of watching The Day After Tomorrow during a heat wave in the middle of August and being wrapped up in blankets. With Dry, it didn't matter how much water I drank, I was still. thirsty.
Milena wrote: "Hi everyone. I haven't checked in in a few months. My husband was in the hospital for a long time, and he ended up having a heart transplant. He is home now, and things are much better. Also, work ..."That is so much to deal with! It sounds like y'all are over the hump--I hope his recovery is an easy one (as easy as it can be).
It's the last day of school which is always a bit chaotic. Currently, my room is hosting a very loud video game tournament.Book about the afterlife
Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds. YA about a kid who lost both parents and a friend and new technology allows his friend to be brought back for a short time to have closure. I feel like the premise was good, it was a quick read but I didn't care enough about either character before the death happened so鈥
Book by a Latinx author
The Hacienda by Isabel Canas. Gothic mystery. Very atmospheric. Enjoyed it and would watch the heck out of a series.
no prompts from most to least fave
Breathless by Amy McCulloch. Thriller set during a mountain climb. Interesting setting. Decent thriller.
Winter Kill by Josh Lanyon. I normally like Josh Lanyon books. They aren't great but generally they are easy reads with decent mystery and romance elements. This one was very meh on the mystery and worse on the romance like the ending for the romance wasn't justified by anything that happened earlier in the book.
A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer. YA, teen inherits his grandfather's house and has to catalog the fantastical things inside. I love the Southern Reach trilogy. But I DNF'd this. Lack of world-building and character building and I feel like he's never spoken to a teenager lately. I made it to page 100 and there was like 500 more to go and I couldn't so it was a rare DNF for me.
QOTW: I live in the boonies and Indian or Philippine or Vietnamese food is not available anywhere near me. And some books like Arsenic and Adobo make me want it.
2 1/2 days and counting. The end of the school year is in my grasp. Love my students but I need a breakFinished: (21/50)
by Talia Hibbert (#20). This was cute but I didn't like Dani's character as much as the other sisters. This is probably the weakest of the books in the series.
by Talia Hibbert (#43 I know it's a stretch for a palindrome but that is a hard one.) Eve revived my confidence in the series. Really enjoyed them.Still Reading:
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I haven't given up on it. Maybe with the school year over, I can give more attention to it.
Ebony Encounters: A Trilogy of Erotic Tales by Mahogany SilverRain. It is a short read but it is just not very good and has a lot of grammar and mechanic errors that are making it hard for me to keep going. I am reading this for my twin city so I will suffer through it.
Rush by Maya Banks. I will probably DNF this and pick another onomatopoeia.
New read:
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. This wasn't available at the library when the group read it so I am reading it now. So far, I am enjoying it. I don't know where I will place it because I read The Jungle for the misleading title prompt. Hopefully, as I read more a placement will come to light.
Question of the Week
Do books ever make you so hungry that you HAVE to make the food the characters are eating?
No. I have never gotten hunger from reading a book. I guess I just don't read a lot of books with food in it.
Mod
This book is getting such great reviews! I'm hoping I can borrow it from my library before my summer trip to the beach.
Mod
And now I want that ginger cake again. It was good. I still remember it - my kids were with their dad and when they came home they smelled cake and got excited, but they HATED the cake so it was all mine.
Mod
Dani's book was my least favorite of the three, also. The whole wiccan thing didn't work for me.
Good Morning All, Nadine thank you for the suggestion of Second Sister. It looks really good. I put it on all my lists. I can work it into a prompt for another challenge I'm doing this year or I may wait to see if a translated book is a prompt in 2023. I read 2 books for the week. Both for Pop Sugar.
Double Star. 4 stars. Prompt # 27 Hugo Award Winner. This book is old. For the Book Riot challenge the prompt was to read an award - winning book from the year you were born. These prompts are close so I combined them. The story was better than I thought. I had never read Robert A. Heinlein. He also wrote Stranger in a Strange Land & Starship Troopers.
House of Salt and Sorrows. Prompt # 11 A #Book Tok recommedation. 4 stars. This is a retelling of the Brothers' Grimm The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I knew nothing about that fairy tale so the book read new to me. It has Gothic tones & reads as a mystery/thriller.
QOTW: Yes sometimes I get hungry while I read about food in a story. The most recent was By Any Other Name. In it the protagonist has sushi & miso soup. Later that week I got sushi & miso soup. It was good.
K.L. wrote: "Good morning, everyone! So鈥 took a look at my TBR checklist this week and, as much as I hate to admit it, I think it鈥檚 time to take another break from buying books.
Rather than setting a specif..."
I should do this with you. I just bought a couple of books yesterday and I really shouldn't have. It's so hard not to when there's a fantastic new local bookstore I want to support!!!
Finished: Exactly as You Are: The Life and Faith of Mister Rogers I really enjoyed this one, especially since I didn't particularly connect with The Good Neighbor. This one focused more on Mr. Rogers's beliefs.Started: The Book Smugglers Horatio figures more prominently in this one and he's such a jerk, it's hard to look past that!
Ellen Outside the Lines I didn't think this author had another story in them since their figure skating experience figured so largely in their last book. But they've done it just fine! This one is about an autistic student on a scavenger hunt in Barcelona.
Piranesi I heard such good things about this, but it didn't grab me, and I ultimately gave up.
Continuing: Philosophy in Children's Literature
The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
Songwriting Without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice
Authentic Assessment in Social Studies: A Guide to Keeping it Real
Qotw: No. The last book I can distinctly remember making me want to eat the food was reading the Redwall Series as a kid. I do think it's fun when they come out with cookbooks that accompany books like that though.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Katrina wrote: "This was cute but I didn't like Dani's character as much as the other sisters. This is probably the weakest of the books in the series...."Dani's book was my least favorite of th..."
Yeah the Wiccan thing was out of nowhere. I also thinks she was the least developed character if the 3 sisters. She was also kinda weak and fragile. I was talking to a friend a few days ago about being over the "flawed man" troupe in books, this book made me realized that I am over the "fragile woman" troupe in books as well.
Good morning! Happy Thursday!I've been sort of freaking out over Summer Reading. I have a 8 inches of stacked papers printed for it, two craft prototypes done, and so much stuff to work out still. AHHHHHHHHHH!!
Well, spring has also sprung with 80 degree temps. Blech! I would like the cold back.
I finished reading:
The Poison Season. One of my four NetGalley books. It was okay. a good solid 3 stars. Has prejudice and forbidden love, and two groups of people, and a bit of mystery.
Sorcery of Thorns I liked it a lot. Sentient books that could become monsters, intrigue, love, a bi character, demons. I read it because I like Vespertine so much.
Currently Reading:
Silver in the Mist another of my NetGalley books.
An Enchantment of Ravens same as Sorcery of Thorns.
and because Agatha Christie is not really my jam, I'm still reading Murder in the Calais Coach or Murder on the Orient Express. I like watching my murder mysteries instead of reading them, I guess.
QOTW
Not really. If i find a recipe that's from a book, (like butterbeer) I would try it. But i've never gone out of my way to find the food from a book. I drool more over visuals of food and videos. those make me crave things like mad.
Happy Thursday. After weeks of almost no spring weather, it's turned cold again. I guess this is spring after a short bout of summer. This weather is reading like a badly plotted book.Finished: The Night Circus
ATY prompt: A book with one of the Monopoly tokens on the cover (top hat)
Popsugar prompt: A #BookTok recommendation
ATY - 20/52
PS- 17/35
Series - 7/13
Clearing my TBR list: 15/40
Currently reading:
Death by Water - About 60% done
QOTW: Either I don't read books with a lot of food descriptions or I'm not great about imagining taste, but this has never happened to me.
Hi everyone. Life has been hectic but in a good way so I totally forgot to check in last week.This week I finished...nothing. Oops.
Currently reading: The Lost City of Z after King Solomon's Mines didn't satisfy my whim for an adventure but this is hitting the spot better.
Also reading: Terciel and Elinor but I haven't got very far yet. It is already making me feel like re-reading Sabriel!
QOTW: Not really. I can only think of the opposite. See What I Have Done was enough to put anyone off of pears
Nadine in NY wrote: "I didn't even think of this one - yesterday someone liked my review for Raven Black, so it popped up in my notifications and I looked at it, and I see that book made me want ginger ca..."thanks for the recipe. totally swiped it and printed it to try!
Mod
omg the messy pears and perpetually reheated mutton, until they all got sick. That was such a disgusting book!!
Mod
I hope you love it as much as I did!! It started off as a King Arthur Flour recipe, but I didn't have half the ingredients so I made substitutes.
Hello! We spent the weekend working outdoors, and while using our new pressure washer on the patio on the side of the house, one of the neighbors introduced himself and we got to chatting. (We moved in three years ago. We'd met his wife that first summer, but he travels for work.) He reinforced what we'd heard from the other neighbors, that the previous owners of our house had some outlandish ideas about landscaping, and hated grass. He wished us luck undoing all of that.Finished This Week:
Time's Edge / Time's Mirror / Time's Divide by Rysa Walker. Books 2, 2.5 and 3 of the Chronos Files series. Finished the series. I enjoyed getting to see through Prudence's POV in the mid-series novella. I'm not sure how I feel about the series as a whole. The first book had a clear goal that I agreed with - undo the time changes that resulted in the MC never being born. But books 2 and 3 gave up on undoing the timeline mucking about, and decided to work to stop future shenanigans. And then book 3 had a fairly high body count. I think I would have preferred if they'd tried to undo all the changes. Using for #20, last letter of previous read (Appeasement -> Time's Edge), and #41, With Mirror in the Title (Time's Mirror).
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Bren茅 Brown. Finished the audiobook read by the author. Still don't think I know how to dare greatly. I have the physical book, so I may reread it.
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter. Don't remember how I heard about this, but it was a quick, easy read. YA romance set end of Senior Year, with everyone getting ready for Prom. The long-time crush of the MC has moved back and she enlists her next-door neighbor (and arch-nemesis) to help her get the crush as her Prom date. Only to realize the neighbor is the right one for her (of course). Using for #38, Featuring a Party, since it's about the lead-up to Prom and then the dance itself.
Death Wins a Goldfish: Reflections from a Grim Reaper's Yearlong Sabbatical by Brian Rea. When I searched my library's catalog for Year of the Reaper, this is what appeared, so I had to read it. It's a graphic novel about what the Grim Reaper does when he's forced by HR to take a year-long sabbatical. Very cute, with the message of don't work so hard. Using for #28, Set During a Holiday, since it's Death's holiday from work.
Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier. Book club's pick for this month. First in a fantasy series about the events kicked off when griffins relocate after their home was attacked, but the villagers near their new home would rather they didn't stay. It is very descriptive, and there are plot twists I didn't predict, but it felt like I was reading a fantasy novel from the 80s, not something published in 2010. I will not be reading the rest of the series. Using for #48, with two POVs, as the story is told by one of the king's advisors and a villager who becomes the griffins' healer.
PS: 23/50 ATY: 24/52 GR: 62/100
Currently Reading:
The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER by Thomas Fisher. This was a GR giveaway that I didn't win, but saw the library had some copies. I'm in August 2020, and it's been interesting so far. I wasn't sure about reading about COVID, but the bad waves haven't hit Chicago yet, so the reading hasn't been difficult. Each chapter is a day in the life typical of that month, followed by a chapter framed as a letter to one of his patients giving more background about the circumstances that led to that patient arriving in his ER. For example, one of the letters was all about how and why the odds are stacked against Black people on Chicago's South Side, and people from there develop chronic conditions more often than the white people on Chicago's North Side. Not sure what prompt it's for.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. No progress.
QotW: Do books ever make you so hungry that you HAVE to make the food the characters are eating?
Not really. I'm not one to cook much, so I don't think about making the food as I read about it. However, one of my friends did that just a few months ago. After reading Murder in an Irish Village and the rest of the series, she made the brown bread featured prominently, and brought the results to book club. I was doing virtual book club that week, so I can't speak to the results, but those that were there had high praise.
Mod
I also hate grass!! The former owner doesn't sound so outlandish to me!! What had they done?
It's been lovely weather this week, had a barbeque at the weekend and have been encouraged to do more reading since I can do that outside but I can't play Planet Zoo in the sun!Finished:
Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse for a book set in a nonpatriarchal society. Like someone said last week, this is very much a middle book and a bit slow, but I still enjoyed it. And it ticked off a tricky prompt!
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill for ATY (here be dragons). I loved this, so unique. It's McCarthyism applied to the fact that some women spontaneously turned into dragons in 1955. But it being a feminine thing, it was taboo to talk about it.
QOTW:
Yes! I am so influenced by food either on TV or in books, I just get hungry the moment some good food is described! My partner follows a lot of foodie YouTubers and I am always wanting what they ate!
Nadine in NY wrote: "That's an interesting backstory though!! I hope you find a gem hiding in the bottom of the box..."War and Peace was in there which, believe it or not, I really really liked. And Child From the Sea was good. Cottage at Avalanche was really cheesy and overly dramatic, but I read it on vacation and it was a good vacation book if you know what I mean.
But, I hated or close to hated Arch of Stars, Freedom's Way, Shadow of the lynx (slightly better than the others) and The Far Pavilions. Treasure Island is in there, and I actually remember reading that years ago and enjoying it (I had forgotten when I bought it), so hopefully that will be good the second time around. I remember nothing about it, really.
Nadine in NY wrote: "I also hate grass!! The former owner doesn't sound so outlandish to me!! What had they done?"They'd replaced what felt like half the front yard with red mulch and small bushes. They had plans to replace the rest of the front yard with the mulch, but hadn't yet. We've mostly restored the front, with a few Japanese yew bushes right next to the house in a bed of rocks, and trying to convince the rest of the yard to grow grass where the mulch used to be.
The side yard to the south is completely red mulch from house to fence, most of which has decomposed into dirt and is usually full of weeds. There are five arbor vitae bushes there, but two are undersized and a tree specialist said someone had cut them. This side of the house also had wide steps for a bit of a hill, but the wood used has mostly broken down. There was a large dogwood bush right at the corner of the house, but we were worried about it messing with the foundation and removed it. We want to remove all the mulch and replace the steps. I don't remember if the side yard was getting grass or something else.
More red mulch lined the fence in the backyard, about a foot wide on two sides (north and south). The neighbor said the mulch on the fence line to the north (by his house) was at least 8 inches above the ground when they put it in. All of that has decomposed as well and is nothing but weeds with the occasional bush.
On the fence on the east side (our house faces west), the red mulch was about six to eight feet wide and full of huge dogwood bushes. We removed all those bushes last summer and got rid of most of that mulch, and are trying to convince grass to grow in that space. We need to finish removing the mulch in the back and do some landscaping around the bushes we kept in the corners.
We bought the house in a winter that set records for total snowfall, so we couldn't see what they'd done to the yard until everything melted. All the neighbors have been happy to hear we want to have a typical front yard of grass like they do.
Happy check-in! I had a good week seeing lots of family. I'm still a little sad from my hockey team being out of playoffs, but that's how it goes.Finished Reading:
Some Things I Still Can't Tell You: Poems 猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸
Thanks to my sister for pointing this out. One of the actors from Supernatural wrote a collection of poetry. Misha Collins worked for NPR before becoming an actor and he does a lot of activism.
Borders 猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸
A ya graphic novel/memoir about trying to visit the author's older sister in Salt Lake City as a kid.
Rainy Day Friends 猸愨瓙猸 (2022 misleading title)
This was the last of the series for me to finish off, excluding a novella that I've requested my library buy. This was the weakest book of the series for me. I still couldn't put it down. It fits the prompt because it never rains during the book.
I Wish I Had a Wookiee: And Other Poems for Our Galaxy 猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸
This was adorable. If you like star wars you should be able to enjoy this.
Magic Breaks 猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸
Continuing the rereads.
Alex + Ada, Vol. 1 猸愨瓙
Mostly I just found this boring. The artwork is nice but there's not much plot.
PS 2022 38/50
PS 2015 34/50
老虎机稳赢方法 121/250
Currently Reading:
Book of Night
The Cellist of Sarajevo
QOTW:
This happens all of the time. Even when it's food I don't like a book can still make me hungry. I don't watch cooking shows after supper for a reason.
Milena wrote: "Hi everyone. I haven't checked in in a few months. My husband was in the hospital for a long time, and he ended up having a heart transplant. He is home now, and things are much better. Also, work ..."That must have been worrying times for you and your husband! Glad to read he is at home and doing better.
Work is busy, read 2 books, it finally rains鈥 not much to complain. Or maybe, reading for the challenge isn鈥檛 going well. But I鈥檓 enjoying my reads and that鈥檚 the most important thing. PS: 12/40
Total 2022: 22
Finished
Die Katze und der General by Nino Haratischwili 猸愨瓙猸愨瓙
Loved this book! Haratischwili can build genius plots and weave symbols throughout a book! This book may not be as accessible as The Eighth Life. It's a very dark story about all the misery that comes with war and corruption. And what that does to your conscience. It's beautifully written (I really need to read her next book in German, that must be beautiful), full of literary references and the rubik's cube on the cover also plays a nice role in the book. Beautiful book about guilt and penance, the good and the bad. Too bad it's not translated in English (yet). Rounded off 4 stars because I just didn't find it compelling enough for 5 stars.
Junge Frau, am Fenster stehend, Abendlicht, blaues Kleid by Alena Schr枚der 猸愨瓙猸
A German novel on World War 2 about the grey zone between the 鈥榞ood ones鈥 and the 鈥榖ad ones鈥. Nice read, not very special.
Currently reading
Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
QOTW
No, never had that.
Milena wrote: "Hi everyone. I haven't checked in in a few months. My husband was in the hospital for a long time, and he ended up having a heart transplant. He is home now, and things are much better. Also, work ..."Wow that's a lot to deal with. It's great to hear that he got the transplant and is on the mend.
Hi everyone, This has been such a weird weather week. Was nice and springy earlier in the week, yesterday it dropped into the 40s-50's and i almost wanted to turn the heat back on. today's its in the 70's and tomorrow its supposed to almost hit 90. then it'll be back to 60s next week. Crossing my fingers that my head stays ok, my migraines are often triggered by rapid weather fluctuations. It was really bad last week, been ok for the last few days.
This week I finished:
Book of Night - I ended up really loving this. I like messy women characters, and dark fairy tale type settings, and crooked heists and urban fantasy and this had all of that. I'm hoping there's going to be another book, because I want to know what happens next.
Network Effect - more murderbot reread
The Kaiju Preservation Society - This was a fun romp of a read! I really enjoyed. I have mixed feelings about covid in current media. On one hand, obvious a huge world wide event. It affected people, writers write what they know, it affected them, etc. On the other hand, hey it's fiction. Especially with sci fi, it doesn't NEED to be there. And sci fi is my escapism, so shoo. Keep it away! But at least here, it served more as a placement "ok this is the setting where we are, and ok now we're somewhere else" so I could deal with it.
Commanders in Crisis, Vol. 1: The Action - I've been poking at this for months. It is too wordy for a comic book, too confusing, and in a weird grey area of me not hating it enough to out right quit but being too complicated to just skim and call it done. Now that I got through vol 1 i dont think i'm finishing the rest though.
Fugitive Telemetry - more murderbot re-listen
Currently reading:
Seasonal Fears - probably should have re-read middlegame before reading this, but I got my hold much faster than i expected. Muddling through ok so far, but having to strain my memory as to what happened previously.
Stardust - audio reread
QOTW:
Not really. I'm a really picky eater, so probably a lot of food descriptions have food I'm going "ew ick" over. I'm probably more into atmosphere anyhow. So for me it'd be more like the scenes in the night circus, where I want to go to a midnight dinner. But it's not enough to just have one of the confections in the midnight dinner, I want to BE AT a midnight dinner, in fancy dress, at midnight in an elegant ballroom in an eccentric millionaire's mansion with a bunch of circus performers. Or if for the other confections described, I don't want to just eat some chocolate mice, I want to be AT the Night Circus, wearing all black and white with my red scarf, or red rose in my hair, with some spiced cider and chocolate mice, watching the contortionist while I sip and nibble. Just the food out of context isn't the same.
Milena wrote: "Hi everyone. I haven't checked in in a few months. My husband was in the hospital for a long time, and he ended up having a heart transplant. He is home now, and things are much better. Also, work ..."I'm glad things are better with your husband. I hope he recovers quickly!
Hello!Bald Eagles - and babies - how cool!
I've read every day but only have one completed for the week:
Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything by Aly Raisman - this has been on my list since it came out, and I thought it was really good. I admired Aly Raisman first as a gymnast, and later as a woman, and the stories she shares here makes me admire her all the more.
QOTW: I don't particularly remember getting hungry or getting a craving for a certain food from a book... Stephanie Plum is always eating in the Janet Evanovich series and I can't say I run out and get tacos or pizza or fried chicken when I finish a book, and it seems like if it was going to happen that's when it would happen lol.
Mod
I am packed to spend tonight in a hotel near the hospital since it is a 2-hour trip to pick her up at her home and drive to the hospital鈥nd she must be there by 6AM tomorrow! Yikes! Though I鈥檝e always said I鈥檇 rather have the surgeon at the beginning of their day when they鈥檙e (hopefully) wide awake and ready to go! :)
One kitty had an upper respiratory infection and the other an eye infection. Both have responded well to treatment, though I have a few new scratches from wrapping them up like a burrito and administering medication! LOL
I have begun rotating one nonfiction book in with my reading of fiction. I find I can easily read a bit in the nonfiction book and then rotate to fiction and then back to the nonfiction without losing details, etc., so am doing that in order to increase my nonfiction reading. I love to learn, but have been lax about reading nonfiction. But this 鈥渘ew and improved鈥 system seems to work for me! I鈥檓 kinda pumped to know that I will now (hopefully) be reading at least one nonfiction book per month as a result!
ATY has a Team Readathon planned for May 21-29! I am already lining up some shorter books to read during that time period! It is always very interesting to see what prompts are posted and what books I have to fit those. It is always challenging! I look forward to having a quieter week next week so I can devote more time to reading!
Oh, and from the world of the recently retired, I just learned that Medicare covers chiropractic adjustments! That is great news for us!
ADMIN STUFF:
May鈥檚 Monthly Group Read is Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier and Stormie ~ Book Dragon ~ is leading this discussion! This will fulfill prompt #15 A book written by a Pacific Islander author in honor or AAPI Appreciation Month in the US! You can also post any book you have read to complete this prompt here. I loved this book so very much!
We will need a "marvelous manager" to lead the August discussion of The Dog Stars! Please message either Nadine or myself to volunteer!
I have decided to volunteer to lead June鈥檚 discussion of Beloved. I first read this book about 25 years ago and felt as if I really had not 鈥済otten it.鈥 I reread it in 2019 and then understood what I had missed that first time around. Since my friend will be recovering from her surgery (I should be off-duty in my nursing and transportation duties!) and I already have some resources located, I鈥檒l be happy to share insights and hopefully help enhance other readers鈥 understanding of this amazing and in my opinion, intense, novel. I was lucky enough to have attended two live events with Toni Morrison, one in a larger venue and one in a smaller, more intimate, venue. She had an all-encompassing spirit that just pervaded the venue, no matter the size, IMO. It was an unmatched experience for me. Though the one live event with Maya Angelou gave me much the same feels鈥 I am in total awe of those two women!
The nomination poll for the September Monthly Group Read will be posted NEXT week. Then the final selection poll will be posted the week following. This book will fulfill prompt #6 A book written by a LatinX author in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) in the US!
The comprehensive listing of Monthly Group Reads for 2022 is here.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Do books ever make you so hungry that you HAVE to make the food the characters are eating?
I love this question even though I don鈥檛 have a good answer for it. This has never happened to me. Perhaps because I am a meal planner. I always have a pretty good idea what I will be preparing within the next 2-3 weeks and those ingredients are what I have purchased. I sometimes briefly stop and imagine what a character is eating as I read, but I鈥檝e never felt compelled to eat the same thing鈥
Popsugar: 38/50
ATY: 47/52
RHC: 13/24
FINISHED:
*Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier 10 STARS for our May Monthly Group Read. I absolutely loved this book! I had no idea what to expect but found it very compelling and quite satisfying! I would love a sequel! (Another one on which Nadine and I agree! LOL)
POPSUGAR: #9, NEW #15, #25, #36, #40-2021: prompt #36 A book with fewer than 1,000 reviews on 老虎机稳赢方法 (925), #46
ATY: #1-Antillas, #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine鈥檚 proposal): So many dead of the plague and so many murdered as a result of Mari/Jehan鈥檚 鈥渄eath鈥, #7-Jehan has definitely lost her mind!, #14-3,342 ratings, #15-It is a statue!, #18-Pacific Islander, #23, #36-the lynxes, #40-Strength, Justice, Judgement, The World, #41, #44, #49, #52
RHC: #24-2017: prompt #12 Read a fantasy novel
*The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling just because! It was on sale at Kroger and caught my eye. Although I disagree with her prejudice regarding trans folks, that does not, IMO, detract from the fact that she is one of the most talented writers I鈥檝e ever read. This book was no exception. I intend to get this for my grandkids now!
POPSUGAR: #9, #24, #28, #36, 2021: prompt #27 A book about do-overs or a fresh start, #41, NEW #47
ATY: #4-A book whose author is younger than you, NEW #19, #36, #40-Strength, Justice, Judgement, The World, #44, #46, #49, #50
RHC: #24-2017: prompt #12 Read a fantasy novel
CONTINUING:
*The Poppy War (The Poppy War #1) by R.F. Kuang for my favorite used bookstore鈥檚 book club meeting this Sunday. Another great read for me thus far!
*The Right To Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet by Sheila Watt-Cloutier for a book I meant to read in 2021 and a nonfiction that interests me. This is so very informative and educational about indigenous cultures in the extreme northern locales of our world. Unbelievable how the toxic pollutants emitted in the more southern regions of the globe literally condense and intensify in the northern climes. Ugh. We humans have no one to blame but ourselves for destroying our world.
*Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda for a May Buddy Read. Short stories translated from Japanese and based upon Japanese folklore. Interesting and thought-provoking.
*The Magic in Changing Your Stars by Leah Henderson is adorable!
*Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
*Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.
*Paradise by Toni Morrison
PLANNED:
1 more May Buddy Read:
*Cross (Alex Cross #12) by James Patterson
*Red Island House by Andrea Lee for Literary Wives
To complete some 2021 year-long challenges:
1) *Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
2) *The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
To complete the 2021 Read Harder Challenge:
*Ordinary Girls by Jaquira D铆az
*Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
*Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Sheri wrote: "Seasonal Fears - probably should have re-read middlegame before reading this, but I got my hold much faster than i expected. Muddling through ok so far, but having to strain my memory as to what happened previously."I just picked up Seasonal Fears, so good to know that I should reread Middlegame before it!
I missed an updates, oops! But here's this one.Finished:
Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier
This was one lots fun. A little different than the typical YA Fantasy I tend to pick up, so that was nice. The world building was good and I loved the history it was rooted in as well. It's inspired by Princess Joan of England who died of the Bubonic Plague in route in Spain to be wed.
Prompt: A book by a Pacific Islander author
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I LOVED this one. Probably my favorite book all year so far. I was engrossed in the characters and their stories. I loved Reid's writing style and it reminded of one my favorite authors, Fredrik Backman. They both in omnipresent tense that just pulls me in. This made me immediately add all of Reid other books to my TBR too.
Currently Reading:
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Prompt: A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title
Overall Progress:
16/50
QOTW:
I'm always hungry for something, so probably. haha. No specifics come to mind though.
Chandie wrote: "It's the last day of school which is always a bit chaotic. Currently, my room is hosting a very loud video game tournament.Book about the afterlife
Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds. YA abo..."
I am glad you enjoyed The Hacienda. I chose it as my BOTM because how can you not with "Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca" as part of the description! I am excited to read it!
Happy Thursday! We leave tomorrow to fly to Florida for a memorial service for a very dear friend. So it's been a rather emotional week getting ready for that. But it's finally feeling like spring here!Finished 17/50
Real Men Knit for "romance by a BIPOC author". Ugh. This book was just so poorly written. I didn't believe any of it and was SO happy to be done with it. Romance is just not my thing.
Currently Reading
The Dragon Reborn for "book featuring a party". Yeah so, I decided to not define "party" as "a celebration" but as "a group of people" specifically, a group of adventurers. Which, this book is absolutely about. A group of people traveling on various quests. Is that what was meant by the people who made the prompt? Probably not. Is that what I'm going with though? Absolutely. :D Really, I just want to read more Wheel of Time and am using any excuse to do so.
QotW
YES. You know what's the worst for this? Anything in the Redwall series. The way that dude describes the food that these little woodland creatures make in their abbey is just so tantalizing and torturous, I'm ALWAYS hungry reading it. He needs to add recipes to his books!
Also, I read an Amish novel last year I think that had me craving some really good, buttery biscuits. Actually, I could go for some right now!! XD
Classes are out for the summer and I wish I could say I have nothing to do til August but that's not true. It'll take me til then to get classes ready for the fall! Ah well at least I got out into the garden some.For the prompt A book featuring a party I read A Wedding to Die For by Leann Sweeney. The party is a wedding reception and it goes downhill from there straight into a wall. Did not enjoy this but at least it was short
The rest of my reads weren't for the challenge.
Another Kind by Trevor Bream I really enjoyed this graphic novel featuring cryptid kids
Something is Killing the Children, Book One by James Tynion IV easily one of the best horror graphic novels I've read in forever. Loved it
QOTW Oddly enough the answer is no and yet.... for one I read a lot of cozy mysteries which are often chock full of recipes but SO many of them are dessert and I've not been much on dessert even before I became diabetic. I might have tried one or two just because.
That said I DO have a Doctor Who and a Sherlock Holmes cook book that are done on the theme of the franchises (or were mentioned in the books/shows) and I follow the Gluttonous Geek which is a cooking site featuring food mostly from SFF shows and books.
Alex wrote: "YES. You know what's the worst for this? Anything in the Redwall series. The way that dude describes the food that these little woodland creatures make in their abbey is just so tantalizing and torturous, I'm ALWAYS hungry reading it. He needs to add recipes to his books!"Oh my word, yes. I've only read the first book so far, and years ago, but I vividly remember Jacques's descriptions of food!
Mod
They'd replaced what felt like half the front yard with red mulch and small bushe..."
Oh I like adventurous gardening, but I hate red mulch. So I can see why you're not a fan!!
I have a lot of dogwood bushes in my yard - I planted ONE of them, the rest are volunteers. Since you mention weeds coming up through the mulch, I bet some of those bushes planted themselves too. They are nice bushes, if they are in a good spot.
Mod
Now she has to figure out where to store everything for two months. I'm glad that's not my problem.
Mod
A ya graphic novel/memoir about trying to visit the author's older sister in Salt Lake City as a kid...."
That's on my TBR! I'm glad to hear it's good.
Sheri wrote: "So for me it'd be more like the scenes in the night circus, where I want to go to a midnight dinner. But it's not enough to just have one of the confections in the midnight dinner, I want to BE AT a midnight dinner, in fancy dress, at midnight in an elegant ballroom in an eccentric millionaire's mansion with a bunch of circus performers. Or if for the other confections described, I don't want to just eat some chocolate mice, I want to be AT the Night Circus, wearing all black and white with my red scarf, or red rose in my hair, with some spiced cider and chocolate mice, watching the contortionist while I sip and nibble. Just the food out of context isn't the same."Exactly how I felt reading this.
I have gone to all of my nieces and nephews' high school graduations because I'm that spinster aunt who thinks I'm a vital part of their life (and they indulge me). Tomorrow is my last one for about 7 years. Yay! This nephew went to a STEM high school so hopefully it won't be the hundreds and hundreds that my other ones have been. Okay, I'll admit - I do kind of love them. All that hope and excitement, before real life wears them down. haha!Lynn, did you have to pay a fortune for your hotel room? They are skyrocketing here. I stayed in one last month, and the price is about 50% more now that I need to book another one in the same city.
Not that red mulch sounds fun, but we have been having a terrible drought for a few years now. With all the water restrictions, the yards (at least the ones following the rules) have ugly yellow and brown patches. Lots of people looking at alternative landscaping.
Finished
Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story by Lesl茅a Newman - 4 stars; picture book
Story of a young girl immigrating to America alone. Based on true stories of a couple of immigrants. Read for Jewish Heritage month.
Our Favorite Day by Joowon Oh - 4 stars; picture book
Story of a Korean American grandfather and his granddaughter and their days together every Thursday. Read for AAIP month.
Ohana Means Family by Ilima Loomis - 4 stars; picture book
Repeating rhyme story about how kalo is used to make poi, and the people and land who contribute to the family feast. Read for AAIP month.
I'm not getting to the books I wanted to read for these cultural months, so thought I would knock out a few childrens books so I at least learned something.
20 Minutes Until It's Over by Daniel Hurst - 5 stars; PS #35 [constellation]
It might be stretching it, but I don't know constellations, and so I have no idea if there is a constellation in this starry sky or not. Maybe I'll trade this out for a better fit, but for now...
This is the final book in the 20-book series that I began in 2020 for the "20 in the title" prompt. It was starting to get a little stretched out, and I had no idea how he was going to resolve the storylines for the many, many characters, but the ending was brilliant.
Currently Reading
Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (audiobook)
Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier
老虎机稳赢方法: 34/100 (3 behind)
Popsugar: 16/40, 4/10 (1 ahead)
QOTW:
I frequently get hungry reading descriptions of food. I've often copied recipes from culinary mysteries, under some delusion that I will make them. And then I remember I hate to cook. I can make an omelet, but why bother. I just make scrambled eggs or egg cups and throw in whatever would have been in the omelet. I'm all about easy and fast.
I have been known to jump in the car because of food commercials though. I'm easily persuadable, especially about food that isn't good for me.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Watership Down (other topics)The Island of Sea Women (other topics)
Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter (other topics)
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet (other topics)
The City Baker's Guide to Country Living (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lizzie Pook (other topics)Ann Cleeves (other topics)
Lucia Graves (other topics)
Carlos Ruiz Zaf贸n (other topics)
Lian Dolan (other topics)
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Last week started chilly, then we had a few days that were nearly 90 which is crazy for us, and then it got so chilly again that I had to turn the heat on yesterday morning.听 Toda it's rainy. So, I guess it's SPRING!听
听
My alliums are just starting to bloom.听 My mother doesn't like alliums, so we never had them in our听yard (and I guess no one else in the neighborhood did either) so I didn't discover them until I was about 20, I saw these gorgeous purple globe-shaped flowers blooming in planters in DC when I was visiting my boyfriend, and I just HAD to know what they were. Fast forward another ten years or so, and I finally got to plant some in my own garden.听 They seem to be quite hardy in my garden and they self sow here and there which I enjoy.听听
We have a bald eagle nest along the shore of the lake in town, and they have BABIES - and what is an uglier听cute than a baby raptor?听 They are so ungainly! The sight of their little grey heads with GIANT beaks poking over the edge of the nest is so precious. There are baby geese, too. Why are eaglets so ugly but goslings are so cute????
Admin stuff
Our May group read of Year of the Reaper is ongoing here:/topic/show/...
We still have openings for discussion leader for August (The Dog Stars), (and Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec for those of you who choose to live dangerously) let us know if you're interested!
This week I read 3 books, 1 for this Challenge, so I am now 32/50, and I am 3/11 on my list of 2022 Must Reads.听
Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto - this was madcap fun, if you like ridiculous books, give this series a try.听 This feels like a genre book but it defies a specific genre.听 Perhaps "chick lit crime caper" is the best description.听 I rearranged some of my challenge听reads and I used this for "published in 2022."
Second Sister by Chan Ho-Kei - this was one of the books on my list of books I must read in 2022, and it was FANTASTIC.听 I think this author is a genius.听 The protagonist hires a quirky computer hacker to investigate her younger sister's death, and he uncovers various secrets related to her death.听 Right now Chan has only two books translated in English, I hope for more soon.听 If you like mystery novels, and you haven't read Chan yet, add one of his books to your TBR!
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei-听 I enjoy nonfiction graphic novels, and I've been meaning to read this for years.听听听It was good, but I think it was a bit too hyped up, it did not meet my very high expectations.听
One of the books I am currently reading now is The Garden of Evening Mists.听 The Chinese protagonist had been in a brutal Japanese slave labor camp during WWII, she definitely sees the Japanese as the "bad guys," (although of course she will end up befriending a Japanese gardener), and it's interesting to read this after reading a Japanese-American POV in Takei's book.
Question of the Week
Do books ever make you so hungry that you HAVE to make the food the characters are eating?
YES!
Next up on my books to read is Vivien Chien's Wonton Terror, book 3 in her Chinese Restaurant mystery series, and I KNOW I need to be ready with some potstickers or noodles or just make fried rice when I read this, because I always want to eat the food she describes.