75 Books...More or Less! discussion
Archive (2019 GR Completed)
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Charleen's 2019 Challenge [85]
Breakdown for the year:New books:
1. Our Lady of the Ice
2. Commonwealth
3. Sorry Please Thank You
4. Origin
5. Secret History
6. Brief Answers to the Big Questions
7. The Way of Kings
8. I Owe You One
9. Stories I Only Tell My Friends
10. Alif the Unseen
11. All the Pretty Little Horses
12. Once Upon a River
13. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
14. Matilda
15. Burial Rites
16. Dad Is Fat
17. The Unquiet Dead
18. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
19. State of Wonder
20. Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy
21. Born with Teeth
22. The Hush
23. Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It
24. Graceling
25. Christine
26. The Long Earth
27. The Testaments
28. The Interstellar Age: Inside the Forty-Year Voyager Mission
29. The Seventh Plague
30. Into the Drowning Deep
31. Beloved
32. The Institute
33. The Witches
34. Night Shift
35. Countdown
36. The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001
37. The Demon Crown
38. How to Forget: A Daughter's Memoir
39. Coming to You Live
40. Full Throttle
41. Howl's Moving Castle
42. Me Before You
43. The Day It Finally Happens: Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans—and Other Possible Phenomena
44. Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker
45. The Bird King
Re-reads:
1. The Well of Ascension
2. My Not So Perfect Life
3. I've Got Your Number
4. The Hero of Ages
5. Surprise Me
6. The Thirteenth Tale
7. The Eye of God
8. The 6th Extinction
9. The Bone Labyrinth
10. The Last Child
11. Iron House
12. The Handmaid's Tale
13. Feed
14. Fed
15. San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats
16. All the Pretty Little Horses
17. Feedback
18. Deadline
19. Blackout
20. A Christmas Carol
Comics:
1. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 9: Squirrels Fall Like Dominoes
2. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 9: Teenage Wasteland
3. Marvel Rising
4. Titans: The Lazarus Contract
5. Marvel 1602
6. Lockjaw: Who's a Good Boy?
7. Trinity, Vol. 2: Dead Space
8. Wonder Woman, Volume 7: Amazons Attacked
9. Marvel Two-In-One, Vol. 1: Fate of the Four
10. Wonder Woman (2016-) Vol. 8: The Dark Gods
11. Avengers: Disassembled
12. Marvel Two-In-One, Vol. 2: Next of Kin
13. Fantastic Four, Vol. 1: Fourever
14. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 10: Life is Too Short, Squirrel
15. Alias, Vol. 1
16. Alias, Vol. 2: Come Home
17. Alias, Vol. 3: The Underneath
18. Alias, Vol. 4: The Secret Origins of Jessica Jones
19. Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy
20. Runaways, Vol. 2: Teenage Wasteland
21. Runaways, Vol. 3: The Good Die Young
22. The Inhumans
23. House of M
24. Mister Miracle
25. Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event
26. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 11: Call Your Squirrelfriends
27. Fables, Vol. 5: The Mean Seasons
28. Wonder Woman, Volume 9: The Enemy of Both Sides
29. Justice League of America, Vol. 2: Curse of the Kingbutcher
30. Justice League, Vol. 5: Legacy
31. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power
32. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 2: Squirrel You Know It's True
33. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now
34. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 4: I Kissed a Squirrel and I Liked It
35. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe
36. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 5: Like I'm the Only Squirrel in the World
37. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 6: Who Run The World? Squirrels
38. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 7: I've Been Waiting for a Squirrel Like You
39. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 8: My Best Friend's Squirrel
40. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 9: Squirrels Fall Like Dominoes
41. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 10: Life is Too Short, Squirrel
42. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 11: Call Your Squirrelfriend
43. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 12: To All The Squirrels I've Loved Before
44. Strange Planet
45. Superman, Volume 5: Hopes and Fears
46. Superman: Action Comics - The Oz Effect
47. Paper Girls, Vol. 1
Mod
Andrea wrote: "Sounds like some great goals :)"Thanks, Andrea. I suspect I will be very re-read and comic-heavy in these first several months (new baby PLUS toddler?! Thank goodness Grammy lives nearby this time around...) with hopes that I'll balance out later in the year. Not that I don't enjoy re-reading, and it'll be kind of nice to have a reason to focus on that for a while. But there's just nothing like sinking into the unknown and losing myself in the pages.
Mod
Oh yes, both have such good merits! My first book of the year is a re-read. I've only just gotten into re-reading in the past year or so since GR allowed it to their Challenge. :)
Elyse wrote: "Oh yes, both have such good merits! My first book of the year is a re-read. I've only just gotten into re-reading in the past year or so since GR allowed it to their Challenge. :)"Before they added that function, re-reading used to be how I got around my "start the year with a clean slate" rule! LOL If I was really in the mood to read and knew I couldn't get through a whole book, I'd just pick up a re-read since they "didn't count" anyway.
Actually, just in the past couple weeks, I went through and added re-read dates on all the books I had a 2+ read count for. (The last few years' worth were pretty accurate, thanks to spreadsheets and blogging; past that I had to make a best guess.) That's part of what got me wanting to do more re-reading again anyway, and the timing works out... sticking with the familiar worked pretty well for me the last time I had a new baby to focus on.
1. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 9: Squirrels Fall Like DominoesAmazing as always.
2. Our Lady of the Ice
Great standalone, with a somewhat open ending, but in a very fitting and satisfying way.
Mod
Mod
Re-reads are a love/hate for me for precisely that reason. But when I need it, it's an option. Or to experience the book in a different way! Read first, then listened or vice versa.
Juli wrote: "I see that a lot of people do re-reads. I have such a hard time with that. I just keep thinking about how during that time I could be discovering a new world I've never visited before."Most of my re-reads in the past couple years have been audiobooks, so they aren't taking away from my physical reading time (and I can't listen to audio for new books anyway... nonfic is an exception, but anything with a plot, I'll miss stuff and then wonder should I rewind or just go on and hope it was nothing important... it's just not enjoyable unless I already know where the story is going).
But I do also enjoy physically re-reading, so I hope to make more time for that this year. Yeah, it's time I could be discovering something new... but on the other hand, new reads can be a gamble, whereas with a re-read I know I'm getting something that brings me joy.
Most relevant to me at the moment, though, is that revisiting a familiar story takes less focus than reading something new, and focus is going to be in short supply for a while.
I find this discussion fascinating. I am in the no-rereads camp. Usually I am so driven with book club and NetGalley and buddy reads that I don’t even have time to think of a reread, but even when I do have the time, I have never done it. When I was a kid and read the entire elementary school library, my dad had to take me to the public library because I saw no purpose in getting books at school anymore.
Mod
Re-reading a book I enjoyed the first time is like wrapping myself in a warm blanket. A re-read is a familiar friend. Or I re-read when a series has finished and I'd only read the first book in the series and enjoyed that first book. Need to refresh. My mom is a no re-read person as well. And I never understood why she kept all her books if she'd read them and never planned on reading them again. I ended up getting them when my parents downsized but they were mostly historical romances/bodice rippers. I enjoy those on occasion but not my everyday cup of tea. lol.
Mod
Ohhhh re-reading as audiobooks is an excellent idea!
Mod
I keep many of my favorite books with no plan to re-read them. But sometimes I just enjoy looking at them or holding them. Sometimes I open them at a random page and take a quick read of that page.
Mod
There are only a handful of books I've re-read, and when I do I try to read them in a different language.
Mod
That's cool!
Mod
That's cool!"
Thanks!
Juli wrote: "I see that a lot of people do re-reads. I have such a hard time with that. I just keep thinking about how during that time I could be discovering a new world I've never visited before."I don't re-read too often, but when I do it's to revisit something I loved an haven't read in a while (Catch -22) or some of the classics I read too young to fully appreciate. I also read very quickly, so I usually catch something on the re-read that I missed the first time. The temptation for me is some of the books with a twist at the end, I want to re-read and see what I missed, or if the author just pulled it out of thin air (Bring Me Back was one of those last year, I loved it, and want to re-read some day, but too many books on the list right now...)
Mod
Interesting, the books with a plot twist would be my last choice to re-read because I wouldn't get the feeling of surprise again. I can't even re-watch movies with a plot twist. But I do like the idea of seeing if I could've caught the twist earlier. Hmmmm, I might have to do a re-read of a book with a twist :)
Juli wrote: "Drew wrote: "Juli wrote: "I see that a lot of people do re-reads. I have such a hard time with that. I just keep thinking about how during that time I could be discovering a new world I've never vi..."Sorry to Charleen for hijacking her thread to discuss re-reads -- Gone Girl was an excellent example, I read it when it came out and then again to refresh right before the movie because I had heard they made changes. Knowing the twist gave new insight to reading the first 2/3 of the book, different enjoyment but still enjoyable.
Mod
Very interesting! I really liked Gone Girl. That might be a good candidate for me to give this a try.
Drew wrote: "Sorry to Charleen for hijacking her thread to discuss re-reads"No worries!
3. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 9: Teenage WastelandSquirrel Girl is forever my favorite, but Ms. Marvel is a close second.
4. Commonwealth
Very absorbing story about a blended family over several decades.
5. Sorry Please Thank YouShort story collection. A couple them were really good, but mostly forgettable.
6. Origin
Standard Dan Brown fare, not his best, not his worst.
7. Marvel Rising
Super fun to see Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel team up.
This is my last pre-baby update. I may be ahead of schedule now, but I don't anticipate that will last very long.
Just checking in to say the little man now has a little sis! So probably won't be around much for a while, but wanted to let you know we're both doing fine.
Mod
Congrats!!! Have fun with those new baby feels again!
Charleen wrote: "5. Sorry Please Thank YouShort story collection. A couple them were really good, but mostly forgettable.
6. Origin
Standard Dan Brown fare, not his best, not his w..."
I've been procrastinating on Origin since it came out... I just haven't found the later books in the series as good as the first ones.
Mod
Congratulations! How exciting! I think you should just count all the childrens books you'll be reading!
Congratulations to everyone, including big brother! I rarely say this, but books will wait. Rest and enjoy every second with that precious little one.
Charleen wrote: "Just checking in to say the little man now has a little sis! So probably won't be around much for a while, but wanted to let you know we're both doing fine."Mega congrats!
The little miss has actually been letting me get a decent amount of reading in. Of course, today is the last day of my husband's paternity leave, so we'll see how things go when I'm suddenly outnumbered.8. The Well of Ascension
Audio re-read. This is such a great series.
9. Titans: The Lazarus Contract
Crossover between the new Teen Titans and the old.
10. Marvel 1602
Really interesting, Gaiman turns this re-imagining into more than just a novelty.
11. My Not So Perfect Life
Another re-read. Sophie Kinsella is so much fun.
12. Lockjaw: Who's a Good Boy?
They're kind of the joke of the Marvel universe, but I like the Inhumans, and I LOVE Lockjaw!
Mod
Good girl! :) And good luck! ;)
Mod
Lockjaw: Who's a Good Boy? is just a hilarious title in my opinion!
Charleen wrote: "The little miss has actually been letting me get a decent amount of reading in. Of course, today is the last day of my husband's paternity leave, so we'll see how things go when I'm suddenly outnum..."Congrat's Charleen. I hope you are getting some sleep!
Have you thought of reading your books to your daughter? I bet she would love it.
13. I've Got Your NumberRe-read. One of my absolute favorites.
14. Trinity, Vol, 2: Dead Space
Catching up on some DC Rebirth, nothing really special.
15. The Hero of Ages
Audio re-read. Phenomenal final book of the trilogy.
16. Surprise Me
Another re-read. A bit outside of Kinsella's usual formula, but still lots of fun.
17. Secret History
I'm so glad I re-read the trilogy before reading this and had it all fresh in my mind.
18. Brief Answers to the Big Questions
First non-fiction of the year. The questions held my interest a lot more than the answers... probably why I read more science fiction than science fact.
Juli, not only is it a great title for a book about a dog, but the writer's name is Kibblesmith! I couldn't believe it!Carol, I did read some of my own books out loud to the little man when he was a baby, but this time around, with both a toddler and a newborn, it's all children's books. I know she just likes to hear my voice, but there's no way the almost-four-year-old would be patient enough for more than a sentence or two of "grown up" books. (He hardly has the patience for his own... though that's mostly because he gets distracted engaging with the pictures in his own way, asking questions or making up his own stories, so I can't really be upset.)
19. The Way of KingsGood, but sooooo looooong!
20. I Owe You One
New Sophie Kinsella, and a bit disappointing, unfortunately.
Mod
Good, but sooooo looooong!"
Hubs recently read this one and very quickly for being so long, a couple of weeks. His first book in a long time and his first mammoth book in maaaany years. He also devoured the second book, also over 1k pages, in about 10 days. I'm glad Sanderson got him back into reading! He'll be hitting Mistborn once he finishes Oathbringer. He's reading Edgedancer right now. Guess I'll have to fit them in somewhere in my TBR!
Elyse, I've yet to read a Sanderson book I didn't enjoy. Mistborn (the original trilogy) is my favorite, which shouldn't be surprising since it seems like most readers end up preferring whichever series they read first.
Mod
Awesome! I bought the original trilogy in MMP for a great deal on Amazon last year.
21. Wonder Woman, Volume 7: Amazons Attacked22. Stories I Only Tell My Friends
I completely forgot about the rest of the readathon, and clearly I didn't accomplish much. It's been an exhausting few weeks.
23. Alif the UnseenThis took a while to get into, but I really enjoyed it.
24. All the Pretty Little Horses
Pretty good companion to Feed.
25. Once Upon a RiverNot as good as The Thirteenth Tale - is anything? - but nowhere near as disappointing as Bellman and Black.
26. Marvel Two-In-One, Vol. 1: Fate of the Four
Just a fun and random bit of comic reading.
27. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
Been wanting to try Mary Roach for a while. This was interesting, nothing amazing.
Mod
Not as good as The Thirteenth Tale - is anything? - but nowhere near as disappointing as Bellman and Black..."
Oh dear! I loved The Thirteenth Tale and could not get into Once Upon a River. I own Bellman and Black but haven't read it yet.
28. The Thirteenth TaleRe-read. One of my all-time favorites.
29. Wonder Woman (2016-) Vol. 8: The Dark Gods
Pretty sure this tied-in to something else going on in the DC world, but it was a good story regardless.
30. Matilda
Great story. This was my first time reading it.
31. Avengers: Disassembled
This was good, but I was expecting more.
32. Marvel Two-In-One, Vol. 2: Next of Kin
Eh. First volume was better.
33. Fantastic Four, Vol. 1: Fourever
This was a great, epic return for these characters.
Mod
Re-read. One of my all-time favorites.
29. Wonder Woman (2016-) Vol. 8: The Dark Gods
Pretty sure this tied-in to something else going on in th..."
OMG I love love love Matilda!! The movie and the book! Childhood loves! ❤
34. The Eye of GodRe-read. The last in this series I actually somewhat remembered.
35. Burial Rites
Good, not great (not for me), though I know a ton of people loved it.
36. Dad Is FatVery funny collection of essays on being a parent.
37. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 10: Life is Too Short, Squirrel
Squirrel Girl is always a winner.
38. Alias, Vol. 1
39. Alias, Vol. 2: Come Home
40. Alias, Vol. 3: The Underneath
41. Alias, Vol. 4: The Secret Origins of Jessica Jones
Season 3 of the Jessica Jones Netflix show came out, and I haven't had time to watch it yet, but it got me in the mood to re-read the comics (a much safer alternative with littles around).
42. The Unquiet Dead
Very compelling read.
43. Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy
More comic re-reading.
Mod
Very funny collection of essays on being a parent.
37. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 10: Life is Too Short, Squirrel
Squirrel Girl is always a w..."
I enjoyed Dad is Fat! I have a ton of graphic novels now, I really need to start reading them!! lol.
Mid-year update!I'm 7 books away from my goal. Also, I'd planned on "a roughly even split between new books, re-reads, and comics." That split currently stands at 17/7/19, though some of those comics are re-reads, so if I put them there instead it would shift the numbers to 17/13/13.
Either way, I'm glad that I'm managing to read as many new books as I am, and not relying solely on re-reads and comics to keep my numbers up.
75 Books...More or Less!
Books mentioned in this topic
Paper Girls, Volume 1 (other topics)A Christmas Carol (other topics)
The Bird King (other topics)
Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker (other topics)
The Bird King (other topics)
More...
8/19 - raised my goal to 75
11/3 - raised my goal to 85
11/15 - hit 85, calling it good!