Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Wow it's JUNE already!!!  I'm still getting used to it finally being spring and here we are almost in summer now.  The weather is still very spring-like: one day we want the a/c on, the next day we're getting the winter comforters back out.  Today is super humid and cloudy and warm and gross. Sadly, my baby cardinals did not make it - I don't know what happened, but a few days ago I noticed the parent was no longer coming to feed his babies.   

I'm back in the office this week, and I literally do not know how to dress.  I bought some new jeans and they are way too big.  The bra I'm wearing is too small.   I have no idea where most of my work shirts went, but I did at least find some work socks.  I look forward to working from home again next week!  And maybe next week starts tomorrow.

Among other things, June means PRIDE month!  If you want to, you can join us in talking about our Pride month reading.



Admin stuff:
New month means new group read!  This month we are reading Dear Martin, to fill "a book from a BLM reading list," in honor of Juneteenth.  This book gets rave reviews and I haven't read it yet, but I will (someday! maybe this month!).  Join the group read discussion here!

If anyone would like to lead any of these future group reads, let me or Lynn know:
July: The Guest List  
August:  Catherine House  
September: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue



This week I finished 3 books, 2 for this Challenge, so I am now 30/50.

You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes - I'm a big fan of the "You" series audiobooks read by Santino Fontana.  This book did NOT disappoint.   I can't wait to see how they handle this in the Netflix show (since it follows the books loosely).  I know it seems odd to use a book about a sociopath for my "book where a character has my dream job" but ... there you go.  Not really a spoiler but spoiler-tagging anyway: (view spoiler)[Joe is a former bookstore manager, a used & rare bookseller, volunteers at a local library a few days each week, and is effectively independently wealthy so he doesn't HAVE to work. (hide spoiler)]  If that's not a dream job, I don't know what is!!

Rhapsody in Plain Yellow: Poems - by Marilyn Chin - these poems were pretty good, but I feel like a lot of them went over my head.

Triptych by Karin Slaughter - this was really good, but I also found it to be far too detailed with the descriptions of violent sexual assaults and murders.  This is the second book I've read by Slaughter, the other was  a stand-alone, and I don't remember that one being so lurid.  I'm wondering if I just need to avoid her entire Georgia series of books and stick to stand-alones? Because reviews for some of the other books in the series mention the same lurid descriptions.  I read this book for "something broken on the cover."


Question of the Week
This week's question is from Lauren:

What free or inexpensive subscription resources, besides Kindle Unlimited, Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, have you used or found to download and read ebooks? Especially classics or other books that are in the public domain or OOP?


I'm curious about this too, because I don't know of much, and I don't use any subscription services.  I use the library for most of my books.  I rely on Gutenberg pretty exclusively for reading classics in e-book form (I've never tried their audiobooks).  For out-of-print books, I buy them from Thriftbooks if I can't find them at my library.

BUT for the first time ever, I'm about to read a book from NetGalley!  It's funny, I never feel guilty signing up for book giveaways through Goodreads (and by the way I WON A BOOK last week!!  Razorblade Tears.  I am SUPER excited to read it!), or downloading free e-books from Amazon, but I do feel guilty asking for books on NetGalley.  This time, the publisher reached out to me to ask if I wanted to read Eloquence of the Sardine: Extraordinary Encounters Beneath the Sea, because they saw my review of The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World. I was so flattered, how could I resist?!  Eels is a book that really surprised me with how wonderful it was, so I have high expectations for Sardines.  

I finished The Wind in the Willows as my shortest book. I gave it 4 stars because I didn't want to penalize the book for my not being its target audience, but I still feel I may have rated it too highly. I can see how a young child might find it adventurous, but I definitely didn't love it.

I read Some Can Whistle as my book with 3 generations. It was OK, but I'm still on my quest to find another book by Larry McMurtrey that I love almost as much as Lonesome Dove.

I'm now reading Miriam's Song as my book published in 2021. So far, so good.

Good morning! This was a wonderful week of reading for me. I had Monday off, so I got a lot of reading done over the weekend. It was my plan to start reading whatever I wanted after completing this year's challenge, and I did that for a bit, but now I'm back to trying to fill in past challenges. I just needed to find new books for the remaining prompts that I have (down to 10 total now) so that I would be excited about it again.

This week I finished:

Beneath Devil's Bridge: I liked this one. It had good pacing and plenty of suspicious characters to keep me unsure about what the big reveal would be. It wasn't amazing, but it was pretty good.

Everything, Everything: I really liked this one. I actually recommended it to one of my probation kids. The "reveal" was not a surprise to me, and also was not how I was hoping the book was going to go, but I still really enjoyed this quick read.

The Big Finish: I wanted to love this book. I felt like that subject matter was going to really hit home with me right now, but I spent most of the book being extremely frustrated at each of the character's choices. I wanted to shake all of them, and so I had a hard time enjoying the book, because I couldn't relate to the characters.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?: I enjoyed Mindy Kaling's other book, but this one wasn't nearly as good. There were funny moments for sure, and it kept a steady pace, but I didn't think it aged well and I thought it made her seem shallow and unlikable (part of the joke, but not well executed).

Mary Poppins: I needed a bed time story, but I didn't find this quite as enjoyable as I had hoped.

Currently reading:

The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter: I needed a change of subject, so I started this last night, but haven't made it too far yet.

QOTW:
I basically only use the library resources for that and don't know much about other resources.

Nadine wrote: "Triptych by Karin Slaughter - I'm wondering if I just need to avoid her entire Georgia series of books and stick to stand-alones? Because reviews for some of the other books in the series mention the same lurid descriptions. I read this book for "something broken on the cover."..."

As a devoted Karin Slaughter fan, I feel the need to warn you that even some of the stand-alones have lurid descriptions as well. (I agree that they are too much at times, but I can't stay away from her books.) The one that stands out to me is The Good Daughter. It is an incredible book, but there is a graphic scene that haunted me for a bit after I read it.

Summer has arrived! It's a bit cooler today but the bank holiday weekend was lovely. Went a walk somewhere new, got some garden tasks done and sat around reading and drinking beer in the sun.

Finished:
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton for a TBR book I meant to read last year. Not as good as Seven Deaths, I felt like it didn't know what it wanted to be. He has an author note syaing he doesn't mean it to be historical fiction so don't come at him with inaccuracies, but then why write it to include real aspects (East India Company). I might have liked it better if he'd just made it fantasy, but it was way too long and it felt a bit glib considering the dark nature (and it representing a real, horrible part of colonial history).

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock for ATY (six or more words in title). This was excellent, a YA novel formed of interconnected stories with each one featuring a character mentioned in the previous one. It builds up a picture of their lives in several small towns. I liked that she didn't try to make them all likeable, they felt all the more real for it. Trigger warning for sexual abuse.

The Castaways by Lucy Clarke for ATY (set on an island). I am slowly getting back into reading mysteries and thrillers and I enjoyed this one in a don't think about it too hard way. I guessed the ending quite early on but she did a good job to make me doubt that I had right up until the end. I think she's a local author (her instagram is full of places I recognise) so I will keep her in mind for future challenge prompts.

Currently reading The Wolf and the Woodsman for review and listening to Ariadne.

PS: 27/50 | ATY: 27/52 | RH: 7/24 | GR: 59/100

QOTW:
I don't really mind spending money on books so I don't often seek out free options. I do grab the Tor monthly free ebook if it's something I don't already have. I use NetGalley sparingly these days as it's so easy to forget about titles I requested and then I feel bad for not reviewing them in a timely manner. I am auto approved for a few publishers, so it can be hard to resist.

I've only really used subscription services for audiobooks, because they usually require you to use an app and I don't like reading on phones or tablets so much (except for comics). BookBeat and Scribd offer both ebooks and audio, but I don't really like Scribd's policy of restricting the titles you can have each month, like if there's a limit don't say it's unlimited! I tend just to bulk buy Audible credits and use them for new releases, which makes them a bargain (I think the 24 credit per year plan works out at £4.58 per audiobook). I mean, I wish it wasn't Amazon owned, but I've yet to find a better alternative.

Mary wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Triptych by Karin Slaughter - I'm wondering if I just need to avoid her entire Georgia series of books and stick to stand-alones? Because reviews for some of the other books in the s..."


So it's common for her? The only other book I read was Pieces of Her, and it was great!

I don't mind detailed descriptions of the dead body, since those are clues to solve the murder. And I'm okay with violence in a murder mystery.

But Triptych had SO many descriptions of sexual assault that really had nothing to do with the mystery. The series of prison rape scenes could have been left out. Every underage girl that was raped, could have been left out (or at least minimized). The regular descriptions of Angie's genitals, and regular reminders of guys who raped her as a child, could have been left out. We really didn't need such detailed backstory for Angie, she's not part of the mystery. Does Slaughter do stuff like that in most of her books?

Gosh, Thursday again already? The holiday threw off my week! (But it's fine, bc now we're closer to another weekend!) We've had some good rain here the past few days, and our pair of house wrens are back - saw one rebuilding the nest in the birdhouse a few days ago :) Poor thing kept picking up twigs that were too big to get through the door, but I think he figured it out in the end.

I finished six books this week, none of them for the PS challenge.

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol 15/16 - 5 stars to both!

A Master of Djinn - 5 stars. This took me longer than I'd wanted it to (I always get distracted by other things) but I loved it. More Fatma adventures, please!

The Wolf of Oren-Yaro - 2.5 stars. A disappointment, to say the least. Not a lot actually happened.

Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic. - 2 stars. Read for my Actual Real-Life Book Club and was not impressed. Self-help books aren't my thing and this felt gimmicky/patronizing (not to mention transphobic), and I expected better for a book published in 2017.

Luck of the Titanic - 4 stars. I got so swept up in the story at one point that I completely forgot about the setting, haha!

Holding steady at 38/50 for PS

Currently:
We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride In The History of Queer Liberation
Armistice
The Unbroken

QOTW: What free or inexpensive subscription resources, besides Kindle Unlimited, Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, have you used or found to download and read ebooks? Especially classics or other books that are in the public domain or OOP?
I'm not sure of other resources besides the ones mentioned.

Nadine I don't think her later books are quite as bad as that, though I haven't read her standalones. There are still quite explicit descriptions but less often. I might just skim over them though as I don't remember Triptych being that bad! Angie is quite an important part of the series so maybe she was setting that up.

Nadine wrote: "Mary wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Triptych by Karin Slaughter - I'm wondering if I just need to avoid her entire Georgia series of books and stick to stand-alones? Because reviews for some of the other b..."

Does Slaughter do stuff like that in most of her books?

I don't think it is always to the extent that it was in Triptych, but I can think of different moments in a lot of her books that are pretty disturbing. There are a lot of moments like that in the Grant County series particularly. I thought Pieces of Her was one of her best for sure. I'm glad you liked it. Based on what you're saying, I would definitely approach her books with caution, if I was in your shoes.

Hello, Thursday! This week has gone by so fast thanks to the three day holiday weekend. It rained Saturday and Sunday, but we had nice-ish weather on Monday. This weekend is supposed to be even nicer. I’m hoping the pool will be warm enough to swim. But if not, poolside reading is good too.

I need to pick a new audiobook to begin this week. I can’t decide if I’m ready to tackle my DNF (Next Year in Havana) now a little bit at a time or if I want to save it for a long car trip and get it over all in one day.

Finished
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (a book published in 2021). I love this book so much all I want to do is keymash about it!! I’ve loved everything Andy Weir has written so that’s no surprise. This is the book that finally got me out of my reading slump. I stayed up until 1:30am to finish the book, which is something I haven’t done for years.

Reading
Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (a book by a Muslim-American author)

The Power Behind the Throne by Steven Savile (a book with under 1,000 reviews)

QOTW
None? I’m really looking forward to your answers!

Happy Thursday, y’all.

Summer has started... which is the busy time of year for me. Not only does summer mean yardwork and gardening, it also means start of the Summer Reading Program at the library. While it's exciting to see kids thrilled to participate, it also means a LOT of work for us. Especially when parents use us as a free babysitter during the summer...

Books read this week:

Spoiler Alert -- for “book about body positivity.” I don’t read a lot of romance, but the premise of this one reminded me of Fangirl… and it ended up being really cute and sweet. Looking forward to the sequel!

Bitten: My Unexpected Love Affair with Florida -- not for the challenge. A little dry at points, but still an interesting and informative look at one man’s relationship with the wildlife and natural beauty of his home state of Florida.

Finna -- not for the challenge. An IKEA knockoff store becomes a breeding ground for portals to other worlds. Vaguely similar to Horrorstör, but different enough to be unique and weirdly fun.

Tommysaurus Rex -- graphic novel, not for the challenge. The funny and heartwarming story about a boy and his pet dinosaur, with a strong (if somewhat heavy-handed) message about forgiveness.

DNF:

Healer of the Water Monster -- not for the challenge. The writing style just wasn’t winning me over, and I didn’t like what a brat the main character was.

Challenge stats:

Regular challenge books -- 43/45
Advanced challenge books -- 10/10
Not for the challenge -- 40

Currently Reading:

The School of Essential Ingredients -- for “book set in a restaurant”
The Line Between -- not for the challenge
A Gryphon's Trial -- not for the challenge
The Second Story -- not for the challenge

QOTW:

I've signed up to a few free e-book subscription services -- The E-Reader Cafe and BookBub in particular. They send out daily e-mails showing cheap and free e-books, and while many of these are self-published, there are some gems and occasionally classics. Also, if you love sci-fi and fantasy, Tor has a "free e-book of the month" club.

Nadine wrote: "Wow it's JUNE already!!!  I'm still getting used to it finally being spring and here we are almost in summer now.  The weather is still very spring-like: one day we want the a/c on, the next day we..."

Santino Fontana narrating "You" was amazing. So much so that I didn't like the series, because it should have been Santino (though he was a bit old for the part...but could have added to the creepiness??) Anyway, I have a major crush on him. A few years ago he was singing at a jazz club on my birthday, and my husband took me and we had middle center seats...like four feet from him. Anyway, I totally was getting the stomach flu, like it started coming on after I arrived, but before he came on, so i had to keep going to the bathroom in an attempt not to throw up on Santino. (Let me clarify...I did not vomit at or near the club). You should google him reading quotes from the Jersey Shore in the style of Oscar Wilde (He was in a Roundabout Production of the Importance of Being Earnest at the time). Anyway. Amazing.

Are the other You books good? I had my doubts; it seemed like such a conceptualized book that I just wasn't sure it would continue well.

Ooooh I'm not sure I knew there was a third YOU book! I enjoyed the first two, and Santino's narration is FABULOUS.

The first YOU book was the best, because it was such a surprise. I wasn’t as amazed by the second book, but I still really enjoyed it. This third one seemed better than the second, I gave it five stars.

I listened to all three of them, read by Santino Fontana. He is just so good as creepy narcissistic Joe!! Although I picture Penn Badgely now. Fontana sounds the way Badgely looks.


Each book is set in a different place:
1 NYC
2 LA
3 Bainbridge Island outside of Seattle
4 will be somewhere in Florida

Sunshine has finally arrived, hurrah! And I'm going to be seeing my parents this weekend for the first time since last August, so I'm looking forward to that!

Didn't manage to check in last week (basically, I forgot!), so have several books to log this week.

Finished:

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously for A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality. I really wanted to like this, as I really like the film, but I ended up just finding Julie irritating...

The Bookshop on the Corner for A book where the main character works at your current or dream job. Quite cute, and it did make me want to start up a mobile bookshop!

Just One Damned Thing After Another for A DNF book from your TBR list. I'm one of those people who doesn't have DNF books on their TBR list, so I utilised the listopia of books that other people have DNF'd, and this was the only on on my TBR list! I really enjoyed though, it was definitely a fun romp, and I've now put the second one in the series on my TBR list!

Started:

Edinburgh Twilight for A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover. I'm overachieving here, as this book has all four symbols on the cover!

QOTW:

I used to use Project Gutenberg quite a bit, for classics, but haven't for ages. I don't have Kindle Unlimited, but am planning to use my free trial to get hold of several books I have left on my challenge list! As a Prime member, I'm occasionally able to get hold of books through Prime Reading (the one I'm reading at the moment was free through that), but it's not often that books on my TBR list are available through that.

The one other avenue I've found that I like (although again, haven't used for a while!) is the Serial Reader app. The basic version is free, it has lots of classics on it, and it delivers the book to you in small daily chunks. If you get the paid for version of the app (which isn't expensive, although I don't have it), I believe you can skip ahead on the installments without having to wait for one per day.

We are getting ready to head back home after a school year spent at my parents' house in the midwest. It's been a really odd year. I threw my back out in january and was more or less laid out for about a month, my daughter broke her arm and is still experiencing nerve damage in her hand (she's a cellist and still can't hold her bow). Then to put my little complaints into perspective, a childhood friend who has been suffering from brain cancer passed about two weeks ago, leaving behind a one and three year old, and my dear cousin has found she has terminal cancer. What a year. Ugh. The irony is that none of these horrible events are related to Covid.

But, still, we are looking forward to heading home. The kids and I miss their father who stayed in NYC for work. I miss the city and all it has to offer, which seems to be coming back. But, it feels strange to be heading back. I'm sure it will be fine once we get there, but at this point it's almost like a move.

I only finished three this week. I'm at 57 on the year, which is so much more than I normally read. (Normally i finish about 50 and this year goaled myself for 52, one a week.). So, I've considered upping my goal to 100, but that seems ambitious. I'll probably be a lot busier once we get home.

Three Dark Crowns Series 5 Books Collection Set By Kendare Blake. This was the finale to the series. I listened to it instead of read it, and it came across a little forced. At first I thought that it may have been the medium, but other reviewers have agreed that the series went out with a whimper and not a bang. Still, it was a fun series overall. It's YA, but pretty dark. Definitely more teenager than preteen. (My ten year old thinks that she should be allowed to read all YA, and that's caused conflict in the house.)

Ready Player Two. I wasn't really a fan of this either. I (Surprisingly to myself) liked the first book a lot. The narrator was very different from me or from most things I read, so that was a lot of fun. I have a loose knowledge of eighties films, so that was all fun, plus the problem solving, etc. But, this second installment just didn't do it for me.

Tears of Amber. Sofia Segovia is a beautiful writer. This book was interesting in that it was written from the perspective of just regular people in Prussia during the second world war. It really gives a lot of perspective to the argument people make of "why didn't the german people do anything to stop the nazis?" and how powerless average people are. This wasn't as great as Murmur of Bees, but still a wonderful, albeit very sad, read.

I have two library books out here to read and return before we leave. Hummingbird Salamander, which has been sitting on my shelf a minute. I can't seemt o get started, though it seems like one I'd like. Has anybody read it? Thoughts? and Doing Time, a spin off on the Time Travel series of Jodi Taylor's. They're incredibly stupid, incredibly fun books that I never look forward to reading, but always really enjoy while I'm in it.
I also broke down and bought The Secret History , which I expect will be magnificent.

Hello! My parents are in town for a funeral of one of their Winter Texan friends, which is sad, but I'm seeing them for the first time since January 2020, which is amazing. They got here Tuesday and they're leaving tomorrow. Unfortunately, their announcement on Friday that they were coming on Tuesday meant the long weekend was spent cleaning and landscaping instead of reading. But the house looks good, and I got to hug my parents.

Finished this Week:
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa. Recommended by poshpenny in the AAPI month thread, and needed for Reading Women. This was a great, short book. I loved all the baseball talk, and how good everyone was. Not for PS prompt.

Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden. A friend heard about this and wanted to read it for book club. We thought it'd be a light, fun read. It really, really isn't. Lots of depictions of how people die, in all the terrible ways, and then it turns into a weird mental disorder thing, maybe? And then the last third is poetry. Very odd, did not like. Not for prompt.

PS: 28/50 RH: 8/24 RW: 13/28 ATY: 36/52 GR: 69/100

Currently Reading:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. I have this on hold at the library since Christmas, and paused since February, and I finally let the pause expire and picked the book up. Very much enjoying it. About 60%.

DNF:
Wallbanger by Alice Clayton. Wanted something mindless, but hated all of the characters and found their situations not believable.

QOTW: What free or inexpensive subscription resources, besides Kindle Unlimited, Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, have you used or found to download and read ebooks? Especially classics or other books that are in the public domain or OOP?

For free ebooks, I use the library. Mostly what Project Gutenberg had that I wanted to read, the library had it too. I've never signed up for Kindle Unlimited, and I haven't figured out how to get any of the Tor free ebooks. But typically I get everything from the library these days.

Natasha wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Wow it's JUNE already!!!  I'm still getting used to it finally being spring and here we are almost in summer now.  The weather is still very spring-like: one day we want the a/c on, ..."

I assume you watched the first season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, since you're such a Santino fan.
My daughter was in a play on Broadway with him, it was Brighton Beach Memoirs. It only ran for one week before being canceled. I don't think they interacted much, as she was an understudy (who never got to perform, because only a week) and he was in the main cast or whatever they call it. I have been a fan of his ever since, and am happy for his success despite what happened with the show. Sadly, I never got to meet him.

Natasha wrote: "Hummingbird Salamander, which has been sitting on my shelf a minute. I can't seemt o get started, though it seems like one I'd like. Has anybody read it? Thoughts?.."

Sorry to hear your year has been so tough.

I was disappointed in Hummingbird Salamander, it was an easy enough read but I didn't feel like the mystery was anything I could solve, was all a bit odd and not even in a cool, creepy Annihilation way. Though I knew plenty of people who liked it more than me. I wrote a full review on my blog if you're interested:
https://www.curiositykilledthebookwor...

I missed last weeks check-in but didn't finish anything. This week I finished 2 books - which is a lot for me.

Finished:

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (not for the challenge). This one was cute, similar to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine but without the intrigue. I like the main character and felt that I identified with her, similar to Eleanor Oliphant.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (A dark academia book). I don't know if it is just me, but I did not "get" this book. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for something to happen but it just fell flat. There were so many places for the book to go and it just never went anywhere. Did anyone read this and like it? or didn't like it? Thoughts?

Currently reading:

Betrayal: The Betrayal; The Secret; The Burning
by R.L. Stine. My pre-teen heart went aflutter when I saw that Netflix adapted this trilogy into a movie series debuting this summer. Goosebumps and The Fear Street books were my first taste of the Mystery/Thriller genre and has forever been my favorite. Technically this is the 3 books rolled into 1 so I am just counting it as 1 book. I wanted to re-read this before the adaptation came out to relive the story.

QOTW:
I mainly use the library for eBooks - I have a Kindle Paperwhite (the lightest, most basic one which I love) but I don't use Kindle Unlimited because they never have the books I actually want to read on there. If I am really stubborn about wanting to read a specific eBook I will just buy it on Kindle.

Hi all,

Well i survived the holiday weekend, whew. It was the memorial for my Grandma, who passed just before Christmas. We weren't able to have a funeral then for obvious reasons. So we had it over the weekend, now that basically everyone was vaccinated. (a couple people only had one dose, but that's better than none) .

But it was certainly a system shock from only hanging out with 2 people at a time, to suddenly interacting with 20 some, even if they were all family. First major family gathering since thanksgiving 2019. And as part of it they had reservations to eat on a patio at the restaurant right by my house, so first time in a restaurant since feb 2020. So that was an experience. Huge mess of not enough staff/new staff for such a big group, and my family being generally impossible at restaurants (lots of not paying attention to servers, forgetting what they ordered, accepting the wrong food which meant others didn't get their dinner etc) . Also funerals are always emotional, and my grandma was such a center of the family. So just a huge roller coaster of people, emotions, etc.

This week I finished:

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - wow, this was so good. i TORE through it, finished it in maybe a day. (technically i read a chapter last week, but once i actually sat down to focus). I am so sad she's not doing more of this series, I just love the universe and it feels like there's so much room for more stories. I'm kinda hoping that once she takes a break and writes some other stuff, she'll come back in the future <3. doesn't work for popsugar, I used it for Book Nerds book set in a made up place (as far as I could tell it wasn't a real planet, and the planetary truck stop was certainly made up) , and ATY's ensemble cast.

Libertie - this was just ok for me, and I can't really place why. I had good hopes for it, not sure if I just wasn't in the mood or what. I just found myself impatient and ending up reading other stuff/being generally distracted. Also kind of felt like the blurb was misleading? I was expecting more about her going off to have a music career and that's not what happened.

Currently reading:

Love Bites - re read as my distraction from the other but i'm far enough in i'm just going to finish.

Not sure what I'll hit next, something that works for this challenge so I can get it wrapped up.

QOTW:

I don't know about subscription stuff. I dont' really do those. But I do sign up for Amazon First Reads where I get a free book once a month that's an upcoming release, but I haven't read many of them. seem to skew heavily towards thrillers/bookclub fiction/literary, only occasionally fantasy or sci fi which are my genres of choice.

I do a lot of humble bundles or story bundles where you can get a pile of books for whatever you want to pay. I usually pay a bit over whatever level unlocks all the books, knowing that I generally am getting the bundle for one or two books in particular, and the others are just bonuses.

Also I'm on the bookbub and bookperks newsletters that let me know when there's sales of books.

Sheri wrote: "I do a lot of humble bundles or story bundles where you can get a pile of books for whatever you want to pay...."

I completely forgot about humble and story bundles! I mostly do the comic bundles so I can try new ones out with it costing a fortune. It's how I found Saga and Monstress.

Happy Thursday, everyone! Posting a bit later than planned today…

I ended up finally breaking a personal reading record this past weekend. A total of 1,149 pages read on Saturday and Sunday! I had never quite broken the 1,000-page barrier for a weekend. Whoo! Whoo! I did manage to read 10 books for the ATY 2021 Read-ARR-Thon #2. I completed all 10 Individual Challenge prompts and contributed those 10 books to the team challenge! It was so much fun and I had so many fabulous reads! When asked to list my (one) favorite book, this was my response:
The Bookshop at Water's End
Amal Unbound
Artificial Condition
The Black Stallion
The Secret Garden
Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha
You know me…I can rarely select only ONE favorite book! LOL 😊

I am especially appreciative of the fact that my car is riding and driving better than it has since I purchased it! YAY!!!

Also, I got to the chiropractor for an adjustment for the first time in over 2 months (Almost a record long time for me!). Boy did I need it. I am amazed at what a difference that makes for me! And I have another adjustment and a 90-minute massage scheduled for next Tuesday! It’s been over 3 months since my last massage, which is way too long. These are the tools I use to mediate the aches, pains, and stiffness of arthritis and I am miserable when I cannot afford them! But, those are definitely first-world challenges. So I need to concentrate on being grateful…and honestly, I have much to be grateful for…

I don’t know if any of you follow Marcus Samuelsson at all, but our local NPR station, WFYI, has a virtual event, Listen Up with Marcus Samuelsson>, planned for June 29th at 7PM. It costs $25 for an Individual ticket and $40 for a Watch Party ticket. I admit to being rather obsessed with him after reading The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem last year. I own a copy of Yes, Chef which I will read this year. I would dearly love to visit his Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem! I have become rather enamored (or possibly obsessed…) with both him and Harlem and have several books from the Harlem Renaissance to read this year!

Also, the New York Times just released “73 books for your summer reading list” which I would love to read, but I admit I am loathe to subscribe, even for just $1 per week! (What a cheapskate! LOL) But I should…

I would also like to plug a book, As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy after I Transitioned by Paula Stone Williams as a particularly interesting one (at least to me) from the perspective of a person who formerly lived life as a man leading a very anti-LGBTQ conservative church and has since transitioned to female. Some of her stories of gender discrimination were phenomenal to me as I listened on NPR on my way to work this morning. And kudos to Nadine for her discussion thread for Pride Month!

Question of the Week:
What free or inexpensive subscription resources, besides Kindle Unlimited, Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, have you used or found to download and read ebooks? Especially classics or other books that are in the public domain or OOP?

I am clueless about all this since I rarely ever read ebooks, so I’m looking forward to everyone’s suggestions! (No help from me! LOL)

Listing of books read this past week will be posted separately! This posting was too long... (Imagine that!?! LOL😲)

CONTINUING:
My top reading priority for this week is Monogamy by Sue Miller for the Literary Wives review to be posted on Monday, June 7th. I need to complete reading it by Saturday so I can devote plenty of time on Sunday to composing the review, which always takes me F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!
I was originally planning to finish How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi for last week’s ATY’s 2021 Read-ARRR-Thon #2, but quickly realized it wouldn’t fit any of the most-needed prompts, so put it down to read the others that did. The good news is that every time I pick it up again I reread the places I have marked of interest, so am keeping it in my head much better than I might have if I had just read it straight through! 😊
The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman is also a priority to finish this next weekend.
And then on to those others!
Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Excellent writing! It really flows and I’m anxious to finally finish it!
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

PLANNED:
I do have 3 buddy reads for June: Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross #1) by James Patterson, Origin (Robert Langdon #5) by Dan Brown, and Moonflower Murders (Susan Ryeland #2) by Anthony Horowitz. Lots of mysteries! Also our monthly group read: Dear Martin by Nic Stone. This last one should arrive next week.
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #26 A book written by Isabel Allende.
Paradise by Toni Morrison to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #25 A book written by Toni Morrison.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. Excellent so far!

Two week check-in but I finally checked off some prompts (23 left)

Afro-futurism

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. A re-imagining of the Civil War and slavery but with zombies. I actually read enjoyed it and will be re-reading the next one.

Black and white cover

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Barshardoust. YA fantasy about two intertwining stories of power and magic. It was a good read.

book by a vlogger

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavour by Hank Green. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one but still a good read. Also, Hank Green's tik tok game is also amazing.

body positivity

Spoiler by Olivia Dade. Contemporary romance. I did not love it mainly because I didn't really click with the main male character.

song title

Torn and Brave and Wicked by Jennifer Armentrout. YA fantasy about fairies and the such and fairy hunters and it had some promise but it was just an okay series.

no prompts from favorite to least favorite

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron. YA fantasy retelling of Cinderella. Wish it were longer with some more in depth world building.

Ten Things I Hated about the Duke by Loretta Chase. Historical romance. Didn't really enjoy it. It really dragged. A lot and took forever to get to the end and there was a real lack of romance or even attraction. Blech.

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye. YA fantasy based on Russian mythology. I felt like the world building was really lacking. The love triangle was forced. Didn't really enjoy it. Won't pick up the next one.

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar. Fantasy YA. The world building was weak and I couldn't get into the talent competition as the main event.

The Betrothed by Kera Cass. The Selection was an entertaining series. This was not. It was shallow. Lack of real description. Characters making asinine choices. And the "love" story. 3 interactions and she throws everything away. Three interactions that weren't romantic or interesting at all.

QOTW:
I don't read a lot of e-books. I download them and just let them linger. As mentioned upthread, if you have Prime you get a free e book each month (this month you get 2) and if you sign up with bookbub they'll send you a daily list of free or cheap based on your reading interests.

Only managed one book this week, it was a slow reading one apparently.

For the prompt. A DNF book from your TBR list I did what I think a lot of us are probably doing. I found a book I ran out of time last year that I set aside to finish other things. Not sure that's the intent of the prompt but the only reason I intentionally DNF a book (other than setting it aside to finish another challenge) is because I don't like it. I have no reason to ever pick those up again. Life's too short to read things you don't like.

So I ran with one I had set aside to finish challenges and when I saw the prompt list for 2021, left it unread just for this prompt. I read The End of All Things by John Scalzi from his Old Man's War series. I enjoyed it.

QOTW I use netgalley for some but that's a crap shoot. Yes there are read nows but the rest you have to be picked to read so there's that.

Somehow, and don't ask me how I got on email lists for cheap/free reads via groups like Bookadrenaline (mystery/thrillers) BookBarbarians (SF/F) eBook Discovery and bookrebels Also Tor books does one freebie a month (occasionally more)

Well, we skipped spring and went straight to summer. Unfortunately, all the grasses are blooming so I’ve had the worst hay fever symptoms since, well, almost ever (actually since my parents cut down the jasmine because I couldn’t stop crying in the garden). Today is better, it’s very humid, but at least there are less pollen. And… one more day of work and then I’m 2 weeks off!!

19/40
Finished
Vindeling by Vonne van der Meer ⭐⭐⭐
Prompt: #15, a book with a black and white cover

Currently reading
John Adams
The Seven Sisters

QOTW
None.

Popsugar: 36/50
ATY: 46/52
RHC: 9/24
Reading Women: 9/28

This list includes all but the last two: The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia, and Laser Hair Removal by Laurie Notaro, a short story collection, and Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed, which I will post next week. (I admit I am in love with the cover, !) I just haven’t had time yet this week to catch up with all the recording of prompts, etc.! 😳

FINISHED:
I read Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to give this new-to-me author a try. I assumed her books may be a bit too predictable for me…and that there may be way more details of sexual encounters than I prefer. I was correct. However, all romance is by definition predictable. And, I could handle these details. But what truly made this book enjoyable was…Fred. What an adorable character! Not sure I’ll purposefully seek out another Cruise book, but this was short and sweet.
POPSUGAR: #3-Necklace in the shape of a heart, #17, #19, #21-Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Romance, #23, #27, #38-Charity turned out to be a writer, #46, #47-doggies
ATY: #2, #3-When the dog bites-Not sure Fred would every have enough energy to bite!, #6, #7-A book with an animal on the cover, #19-Nina must overcome her insecurities prompted by her “older-than-20’s” body to aid in obtaining a happy future, #21, #23-Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Romance, #27-Judgement, The World, #29, #38-CUNNING: Fred proved to be quite cunning in his thievery!, #40-From POPSUGAR Challenge-prompt #7 A book containing nonhuman characters, #49, #52-In the end, Nina let go of her body insecurities, allowing her to fully participate in a romantic relationship again!
RHC: #1, #24

The Black Stallion (The Black Stallion #1) by Walter Farley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was THE MOST EXCITING book I have read in quite a long time. No wonder I loved it when I read it at age 10 or 11! You can’t help but love Alec and the Black, as well as Henry, IMO! So glad I revisited this classic! And since I’ve never read others in the series, I will plan to do so now! I ordered the second installment in the series, The Black Stallion Returns. This is one Nadine and I agree on!! Bonus! LOL 😄
POPSUGAR: #18-Compassionate care and treatment of animals, #21-Adventure, Animals, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horses, Juvenile, Young Adult, #22, #27, #29-India, United Kingdom, US, #29-India, #39, #40-the Black, the other two racing horses, and the horse he attacked, #47-One of my favorite books from childhood!
ATY: #1-The beginning of a series, #6-Love between an animal and human, #7-A book for which you are (or were) not the intended demographic/audience, #8-India, #18-The Black’s lack of thoroughbred documentation from the past impacts the present and his future, #23-Adventure, Animals, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horses, Juvenile, Young Adult, #24, #25, #27-Strength, #29, #31, #34-Shipwreck, #35-Partially set in India, INDIRECT: They accomplished an indirect way to allow the Black to race the two fastest horses, #45-India
RHC: #24

Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was just as intriguing and perhaps even moreso than the first installment, All Systems Red. I can definitely foresee my need to own all of the books in this series for binge rereading purposes! Another series that both Nadine and I love! 😲🤣
POPSUGAR: #21-Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, #39, #40-From 2018 POPSUGAR prompt #27 A book set on a different planet, #43, #47-A favorite series
ATY: #7-A book related to something good that happened in 2020: I read the first installment in this series!, #10, #13, #14, #18-It is difficult for his past NOT to impede his present and future, #23-Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, #27-Death, Judgement, #29, #31, #34, #38-A mainstay in this world is electronics, #42, #52-In the end it would seem that what he thought he knew was not the truth.

A War of Gifts: An Ender Battle School Story (Ender’s Saga #1.1) by Orson Scott Card ⭐⭐⭐⭐ proved to be a bit off-putting for me. Having only read Ender's Game, the first in the Ender’s Saga series, perhaps I’m just not as familiar with Ender as I should be to fully connect with this installment. I say this because I felt Ender would have never inserted himself in such a situation, but perhaps he would have, could have…did. LOL The author felt it was within his character, so I won’t object, but it just took me a bit to suspend my disbelief. This was quite the treatise regarding religion vs. cultural/national traditions. I found it interesting, but not intriguing…
POPSUGAR: #21-Classic, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult, #27, #34-Freedom of Religion and/or Cultural/National Traditions, #36-978 reviews on Goodreads, #47
ATY: #7-A book about the forbidden, #14, #20-What does the future hold for freedom of beliefs?, #23-Classic, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult, #27-Justice, Judgement, The World, #31, #38-SHARE: Acceptance that not everyone shares the same beliefs, #49, #52-In the end, no one is allowed to practice anything resembling religious traditions to enable routine schedules.

The Bookshop at Water's End ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ is only the first of Patti Callahan Henrys I’ve read, but certainly will not be the last! This was intensely thought-provoking in so many ways! It would doubtless provide great discussion points for a book club/reading group. Among the themes: (1) How does/can loyalty to one friend create unintended negative consequences for others? (2) Is it better or worse to have an addicted parent in their children’s lives? (3) Can you genuinely, intuitively, and uncontrollably love someone and yet be incompatible? (4) How can forgiveness be granted when there are no behavioral/attitudinal changes in the other person?
POPSUGAR: #18-Accepting life’s challenges and living in the here and now, #21- Coming-of-Age, Contemporary Fiction, Family, Fiction, Health, Mental Health, #27, #30, #31-Podcast and weekly Facebook live event-Friends & Fiction, #36-748 reviews on Goodreads, #37, #38-Lainey is a mixed-media artist, #40-From 2017 POPSUGAR Challenge prompt #51-A book about a difficult topic, #43, #46, #47-Recreational water settings
ATY: #6, #7-A book title or an author’s name where the first word has two syllables and second word has one syllable—“Bookshop at”, #8-South Carolina, #9-Summer, #14, #16, #20-Living in the present while resolving the past will lead to a brighter, more focused future, #23-Coming-of-Age, Contemporary Fiction, Family, Fiction, Health, Mental Health, #27-The Lovers, Strength, The Hermit, Death, Judgement, #29, #34, #38-CAKE: Mimi’s pound cake, #40, #49, #52-In the end it proves beneficial to live in the present, resolving the past, to prepare for a better, more well-informed future than you might otherwise manifest.
RHC: #23-Anxiety

Spring has SPRUNG big time here in gorgeous Switzerland. The poppies, big and small, are reaching for the sky, blood-red amongst green leaves and golden wild grasses. We have many protected biodiversity flower/grass areas, so wildflowers and grasses can grow freely without being cut down. The riots of color on the hills and valleys is just beautiful. I am grateful to be living here. Temperatures are up, sunny days abound ... and my students are entering summer mode big time.

Finished
Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames for prompt #7. Whilst mudlarking in the River Thames isn't her full time job, it is obviously her passion project in between meetings and life. My dream job would be working in archeology or museum curations [working on a degree to *perhaps* change into that field one day], so I choose this book. I love the history behind the objects, the every day social history of daily lives.

The Storyteller for prompt #14. It takes place, for the most part, in a bakery in modern day and also back in time. Wow. Powerful story. Incredible. Part fairy tale, part historical fiction, part modern day ... I did anticipate the twist, Picoult-style, but it was still a well-written story.

June Reads
American Dirt - prompt #39
Middle England - prompt #47
Fall of Giants - prompt #41
And any others I happen to get in from my local library once I'm back home! I have holds ready to activate about 2-3 days before I get home, possibly even a few more days before if several copies are already out. Strategic!

QotW

I have recently gotten back on NetGalley for ARC copies. I kind of went a little bonkers and requested a lot of books I thought were interesting ... and I ended up with a lot of approvals! I had received an email about a book called Maiden Voyages: Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them because I had read the author's other book Queen Bees: Six Brilliant and Extraordinary Society Hostesses Between the Wars just recently. I downloaded Maiden Voyages and look forward to reading it. I like her take on women's history in some of the lesser looked-at areas.

I have an Orwellian book called The School for Good Mothers now on NetGalley that I can't wait to read. I also have several WWII historical fiction & nonfiction titles on there, and one new book that is middle grade fiction based in ancient Egypt called The New Kingdom. I think my students would like it!

Nadine wrote: "Wow it's JUNE already!!! I'm still getting used to it finally being spring and here we are almost in summer now. The weather is still very spring-like: one day we want the a/c on, the next day we're getting the winter comforters back out. Today is super humid and cloudy and warm and gross. Sadly, my baby cardinals did not make it - I don't know what happened, but a few days ago I noticed the parent was no longer coming to feed his babies."
Oh, that makes me so sad! Poor baby birdies! Now I'm kinda glad there wasn't a webcam... 😞

"I'm back in the office this week, and I literally do not know how to dress. I bought some new jeans and they are way too big. The bra I'm wearing is too small. I have no idea where most of my work shirts went, but I did at least find some work socks. I look forward to working from home again next week! And maybe next week starts tomorrow."
It is a shock, isn't it? LOL

"Among other things, June means PRIDE month! If you want to, you can join us in talking about our Pride month reading."
The author I mentioned in my posting, Paula Stone Williams was interviewed on NPR this morning. She has experienced such gender discrimination since her transition! It is truly shocking, IMO! Now I really want to read As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy after I Transitioned!

"Admin stuff:
New month means new group read! This month we are reading Dear Martin, to fill "a book from a BLM reading list," in honor of Juneteenth. This book gets rave reviews and I haven't read it yet, but I will (someday! maybe this month!). Join the group read discussion here!"
Can't wait for my copy to arrive next week!

"If anyone would like to lead any of these future group reads, let me or Lynn know:
July: The Guest List
August: Catherine House
September: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue"
Yes! You know you want to... 👍😉😊

"You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes - I'm a big fan of the "You" series audiobooks read by Santino Fontana. This book did NOT disappoint. I can't wait to see how they handle this in the Netflix show (since it follows the books loosely). I know it seems odd to use a book about a sociopath for my "book where a character has my dream job" but ... there you go. Not really a spoiler but spoiler-tagging anyway: (view spoiler) If that's not a dream job, I don't know what is!!"
I love the spoiler. Yep! Sign me up! LOL

"Rhapsody in Plain Yellow: Poems - by Marilyn Chin - these poems were pretty good, but I feel like a lot of them went over my head."
I do admire your tenacity with poetry this year!!

"Triptych by Karin Slaughter - this was really good, but I also found it to be far too detailed with the descriptions of violent sexual assaults and murders."
I have always avoided her, assuming I wouldn't enjoy her writing for those reasons. Plus, my husband enjoys her books. Most of what he reads is way too grisly for me! He prefers high body count and gory details. Ugh.

"Question of the Week
This week's question is from Lauren:

What free or inexpensive subscription resources, besides Kindle Unlimited, Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, have you used or found to download and read ebooks? Especially classics or other books that are in the public domain or OOP?

BUT for the first time ever, I'm about to read a book from NetGalley! It's funny, I never feel guilty signing up for book giveaways through Goodreads (and by the way I WON A BOOK last week!! Razorblade Tears. I am SUPER excited to read it!), or downloading free e-books from Amazon, but I do feel guilty asking for books on NetGalley. This time, the publisher reached out to me to ask if I wanted to read Eloquence of the Sardine: Extraordinary Encounters Beneath the Sea, because they saw my review of The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World. I was so flattered, how could I resist?! Eels is a book that really surprised me with how wonderful it was, so I have high expectations for Sardines."
I am jealous of Razorblade Tears! And, isn't it so cool when a publisher offers you a book to review? Neat!! 👍😊

Nadine wrote: "Wow it's JUNE already!!!  I'm still getting used to it finally being spring and here we are almost in summer now.  The weather is still very spring-like: one day we want the a/c on, the next day we..."

Nadine, I so relate to your getting dressed issues. I think I spent 45 minutes picking out an outfit for a doctor's appointment earlier this week. The only difference is that nothing is big on me after a year and a half at home.

Hi everyone. We have finally had some sunshine here but in typical fashion, it has disappeared today on my day off.


This week I finished Aladdin: Far from Agrabah which was a cute story, but it doesn't hold up to scrutiny in context of the rest of the film.

I also finished The Island at the End of the World which was terrible. If I hadn't read most of it at an overnight at work, it probably would have been a DNF. Half of the chapters were from the POV of a child who couldn't spell basic words, in spite of him bragging about the books he'd read, which really grated on me. And that was before it descended into the chaotic conclusion.

Currently reading: Ariadne which is based on one of my favourite Greek myths, so I hope I like it.

I also bought my nephew Awful Auntie as a treat, but peeking inside it has a family tree so I might try and read it before he comes back for it.

QOTW: I don't read ebooks unless I'm super stuck on a prompt. Then I just look at what is free on iBooks

Katy wrote: "I finished The Wind in the Willows as my shortest book. I gave it 4 stars because I didn't want to penalize the book for my not being its target audience, but I still feel I may have rated it too highly. I can see how a young child might find it adventurous, but I definitely didn't love it."
Sounds as if it doesn't hold up as well for adults. I admit it is one I wouldn't necessarily revisit. It just doesn't interest me much now.

"I read Some Can Whistle as my book with 3 generations. It was OK, but I'm still on my quest to find another book by Larry McMurtrey that I love almost as much as Lonesome Dove."
This made me think of a new-to-me series I just discovered, The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. I was aware of the first book, All the Pretty Horses, but not the trilogy. Don't know if it would interest you or not, but figured I'd list it anyway..."

Mary wrote: "Good morning! This was a wonderful week of reading for me. I had Monday off, so I got a lot of reading done over the weekend. It was my plan to start reading whatever I wanted after completing this year's challenge, and I did that for a bit, but now I'm back to trying to fill in past challenges. I just needed to find new books for the remaining prompts that I have (down to 10 total now) so that I would be excited about it again."
Wow. I am impressed! You go, girl! 👍😁

"This week I finished:
Everything, Everything: I really liked this one. I actually recommended it to one of my probation kids. The "reveal" was not a surprise to me, and also was not how I was hoping the book was going to go, but I still really enjoyed this quick read."
That's so cool that you can and do recommend books to them! I hope that person reads it! This is one I've owned for several years and have yet to read! Her newest book, Instructions for Dancing was released this Tuesday. I need to get to Everything, Everything sooner rather than later!

"The Big Finish: I wanted to love this book. I felt like that subject matter was going to really hit home with me right now, but I spent most of the book being extremely frustrated at each of the character's choices. I wanted to shake all of them, and so I had a hard time enjoying the book, because I couldn't relate to the characters."
Hmmmm...this looks right up my alley!

"Mary Poppins: I needed a bed time story, but I didn't find this quite as enjoyable as I had hoped."
That sounds like my reaction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when I read it! I congratulate the movie folks who created what I believe to be a timeless and utterly enjoyable movie from that text. Perhaps the same with this one?

"Currently reading:
The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter"
Doubt I would enjoy this one. I just don't need to be inside the mind of a criminal... Too creepy for me! LOL 🙂

Happy Thursday! This was the first week in awhile where I felt at least a little back to normal, I actually had motivation to pick up some books! But we had another staffing change at work. I feel like I've been training new employees for months and months now. Here's hoping June's better than May was- last month was a rough one!

Finished:
The Office of Historical Corrections- I really loved these stories. The title story especially got to me.

Interior Chinatown- this was such an interesting book! I was trying to explain it to a friend, and realized I was doing a terrible job. It's hard to summarize. I'm definitely going to look up the author's earlier books

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History-for format I don't normally read, I've had this book for years, but I never think about picking up graphic novels, so I figured it'd be perfect for this prompt. It's a classic for a reason. I'll have to get to book 2 soon.

Currently reading:
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies- another short story collection that I've heard great things about

and the other two books I've been reading forever and don't feel like listing again

QotW
I pretty much only use the library app- my library really stepped up their selections during the pandemic.

Lynn wrote: "his made me think of a new-to-me series I just discovered, The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. I was aware of the first book, All the Pretty Horses, but not the trilogy. Don't know if it would interest you or not, but figured I'd list it anyway..."..."

Thanks. I actually remember reading All the Pretty horses a while back, maybe 10 years ago, and I didn't care of it very much.

I didn't do a ton of reading this week because, nerd alert, they recently remastered my favorite video game trilogy so I've been very busy saving the galaxy again, haha.


Finished:
You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson: oh I super loved this! The last couple YA books I'd read had me worrying that I was becoming too jaded and cynical for teen protagonists, but this was the perfect blend of teen thought process with like, logical motivations and actions. It was just super cute and satisfying a perfect first read for pride month!
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo: I loved this one too! In two novellas Nghi Vo is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers - this little series has such fascinating world building and relationships, and I didn't know how much I needed to read about a protagonist who uses they/them pronouns like me and it's completely normal and unremarkable in universe. These books bring me so much joy.

Currently Reading:
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Loveless
Hamletmachine and Other Texts for the Stage
The Argonauts

QotW:
Can't help you; I pretty much exclusively borrow books from the library these days.

Happy check-in. It is a scorcher today. I finally don't look like an oompaloompa anymore due to my own stupidity of reading outside without sunscreen. 🤦‍♀️
I too discovered that my clothes didn't fit when I switched over to summer stuff, staying at home and eating will do that.

Finished Reading:

Watchmen ⭐ (2017 set in two different time periods)
I hated this! I so don't understand why this is considered a classic. It's just depressing and boring not art to me. What really killed the book for me was the end of a chapter where the one character's paper on owls or hawks (I don't remember) was thrown in for me to read.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns ⭐⭐⭐
This was a surprise. I hadn't heard of this until I saw a buddy read going on and I joined in for a comforting read. Ya fantasy about a princess that has a Godstone in her belly making her capable of magic. I was giggling out loud when I lost count of how many times the love interest drugged her food/drink yet she still saw him as a winner. Also it had a love triangle that for the first time I can think of both (view spoiler)[love interests were killed off by the end of the book. (hide spoiler)] This is from 2011 but there was an update from the author recently explaining her inspiration for this book. She had a terrible date where her ex-boyfriend stopped her ordering dessert. So body image and food were huge parts of this story.

Meg ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2021 tbr ugly cover)
So I loved this movie and needed to read the book. Here's the winning ugly cover or other ugly cover possibilities . Here's the copy the library sent me... Thanks library! Anyway this book was awesome and hard to put down although I like what the movie did better. Prehistoric shark that we thought was extinct shows up to eat people.

Frostbite: The Graphic Novel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Shadow Kiss ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I like these graphic novels based on her series a bit better. They're more to the point.

Turtles All the Way Down ⭐⭐⭐
This was quite interesting reading about anxiety induced thought spirals. I wanted to give the main character a hug a lot.

PS 2021 32/50
PS 2017 29/52
Goodreads 116/200

Currently Reading:
Foundryside
When He Was Wicked

QOTW:
Nope, just use overdrive. Although I think I might read something off Gutenberg to accomplish different format.

Ellie wrote: "Finished:
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton for a TBR book I meant to read last year."
I'm rather anxious to see how I feel about this one...

"Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock for ATY (six or more words in title). This was excellent, a YA novel formed of interconnected stories with each one featuring a character mentioned in the previous one. It builds up a picture of their lives in several small towns. I liked that she didn't try to make them all likeable, they felt all the more real for it. Trigger warning for sexual abuse."
This sounds intriguing. I admit upon reading that last sentence my thought was, "Doesn't every book contain scenes of sexual abuse now?" But then my immediate answer was, "Perhaps that's because it literally happens ALL the time to SO many people!" Followed by a deep sigh...

"The Castaways by Lucy Clarke for ATY (set on an island). I am slowly getting back into reading mysteries and thrillers and I enjoyed this one in a don't think about it too hard way. I guessed the ending quite early on but she did a good job to make me doubt that I had right up until the end."
That probably means I would never figure it out! 😄 I love reading mysteries but am not particularly good at figuring out "whodunnit"! Maybe that's why I enjoy them so much! Ha! Ha!

"QOTW:
I don't really mind spending money on books so I don't often seek out free options. I do grab the Tor monthly free ebook if it's something I don't already have. I use NetGalley sparingly these days as it's so easy to forget about titles I requested and then I feel bad for not reviewing them in a timely manner. I am auto approved for a few publishers, so it can be hard to resist.

I've only really used subscription services for audiobooks, because they usually require you to use an app and I don't like reading on phones or tablets so much (except for comics). BookBeat and Scribd offer both ebooks and audio, but I don't really like Scribd's policy of restricting the titles you can have each month, like if there's a limit don't say it's unlimited! I tend just to bulk buy Audible credits and use them for new releases, which makes them a bargain (I think the 24 credit per year plan works out at £4.58 per audiobook). I mean, I wish it wasn't Amazon owned, but I've yet to find a better alternative."
If it works, it works! I'll be interested to see if Amazon changes at all in the wake of Bezos stepping down!

Lynn wrote: "That sounds like my reaction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when I read it! I congratulate the movie folks who created what I believe to be a timeless and utterly enjoyable movie from that text. Perhaps the same with this one?."

I think you are definitely right. Mostly I prefer books to movies, naturally, but there is something about reading a childhood classic that I've already seen on film that leaves a little bit of the magic missing for me.

Ashley Marie wrote: "Gosh, Thursday again already? The holiday threw off my week! (But it's fine, bc now we're closer to another weekend!)"
*Fist pump!* YES!!

"...our pair of house wrens are back - saw one rebuilding the nest in the birdhouse a few days ago :) Poor thing kept picking up twigs that were too big to get through the door, but I think he figured it out in the end."
Awwww...

"Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic. - 2 stars. Read for my Actual Real-Life Book Club and was not impressed. Self-help books aren't my thing and this felt gimmicky/patronizing (not to mention transphobic), and I expected better for a book published in 2017."
Ugh. Sounds like this was a slog to get through... Maybe the next selection will be much better!

"Luck of the Titanic - 4 stars. I got so swept up in the story at one point that I completely forgot about the setting, haha!"
That one's now on my TBR listing!

"QOTW: What free or inexpensive subscription resources, besides Kindle Unlimited, Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, have you used or found to download and read ebooks? Especially classics or other books that are in the public domain or OOP?
I'm not sure of other resources besides the ones mentioned."
Glad I'm not alone! LOL

Heather wrote: "Hello, Thursday! This week has gone by so fast thanks to the three day holiday weekend. It rained Saturday and Sunday, but we had nice-ish weather on Monday. This weekend is supposed to be even nicer. I’m hoping the pool will be warm enough to swim. But if not, poolside reading is good too."
Hope you get to swim though! 😊

"Finished
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (a book published in 2021). I love this book so much all I want to do is keymash about it!! I’ve loved everything Andy Weir has written so that’s no surprise. This is the book that finally got me out of my reading slump. I stayed up until 1:30am to finish the book, which is something I haven’t done for years."
That is so exciting! I have loved his books as well and certainly look forward to this one!

"Reading
Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin (a book by a Muslim-American author)"
I hope you like it as well as I did!

"QOTW
None? I’m really looking forward to your answers!"
More confirmation I am not alone! 😁

Kenya wrote: "Summer has started... which is the busy time of year for me. Not only does summer mean yardwork and gardening, it also means start of the Summer Reading Program at the library. While it's exciting to see kids thrilled to participate, it also means a LOT of work for us. Especially when parents use us as a free babysitter during the summer..."
Ah, yes. Free babysitter. Had the same challenge in the Borders store where I worked. If we could spare an employee, one of us would keep an eye on the children and do our best to make them sit down while they were there so we could "catch" the parent/parents/caregivers when they picked them up. We would do our best to make sure the manager on duty would speak with them regarding the fact that the next time we would call DCS, no questions asked.

"Books read this week:
Spoiler Alert -- for “book about body positivity.” I don’t read a lot of romance, but the premise of this one reminded me of Fangirl… and it ended up being really cute and sweet. Looking forward to the sequel!"
What a great recommendation! Thank you!

"DNF:
Healer of the Water Monster -- not for the challenge. The writing style just wasn’t winning me over, and I didn’t like what a brat the main character was."
Sorry this didn't work for you...

"Currently Reading:
The School of Essential Ingredients -- for “book set in a restaurant”"
Oh, my! One of my absolute favorite books ever! Sure hope you enjoy it!

"QOTW:
I've signed up to a few free e-book subscription services -- The E-Reader Cafe and BookBub in particular. They send out daily e-mails showing cheap and free e-books, and while many of these are self-published, there are some gems and occasionally classics. Also, if you love sci-fi and fantasy, Tor has a "free e-book of the month" club."
That sounds like valuable information!

It is humid here - UGH! NYC in the summer is a misery of humidty and heat and haze. I do not like hot summers anyway and NYC brings it to a new level. I am very grateful for the extended cooler dryer weather we have mostly had...but as it ends, I'm NOT HAPPY!

On the back to work clothing etc. discussion...another group on GR in which there is a weekly Kaffeeklatsch where pretty much anything can be discussed, we had a whole discussion about this, along with the various trepidations we are all feeling. One of the members mentioned that a bit of = 'back to work' shopping is in order, the way we once had 'back to school' shopping. All agree it's a brilliant concept, and one that might actually make us feel excited and more confident as we re-enter regular contact outside our pandemic bubbles. And we discussed not just clothes and shoes, but also makeup and jewelry -- some with pierced ears may have closed piercings by now if they have not periodically been wearing earrings. So Nadine, you are not alone!

@Nadine - btw, the bra may not be too small ... the girls are just not used to be confined for extended periods any longer and we are not used to the underwire and elastic pulling and chaffing. At least that is the case in my house...

I finished a few things that have been dragging on (short story collections which I read 2 or 3 at a time, not straight through like a novel):

Three Lives by Gertrude Stein - not so easy to read as the longest one was stream of consciousness writing. Not for PS
Interpreter of Maladies - absolute gem of a collection. I did not need it, but it does fit the best seller from 1990s.
Bookscout short story by John Dunning set in the world of collectible book pickers.
Jack of Spies - set in the months just before and after the start of WWI, this is an historical espionage thriller that is first in a quartet. Very good. I did not need it for this, but it definitely fits multiple countries prompt as it takes us through China, US, Mexico, UK and Ireland.
No Time to Explain - if you need a beach read, like ones with cute dogs and a couple of sweet side romances, don't mind arrogant bad boys with soft hearts, this one is for you. Warning: the bad boy is pretty awful in the first few pages as he prowls a wedding show for a pickup. But our heroine by page 6 is putting him in his place.

Currently reading:

When Dimple Met Rishi - a total delight - not for challenge
How Much of These Hills Is Gold - an AAPI month buddy read with friends - I'm a little late... so far really enjoying - first chapter packs a wallop. Quesion is whether this debut can keep it up.
A Suitable Boy - my longest book on my TBR read.
The Mysterious Benedict Society - some light reading between sections of A Suitable Boy.

QOTW: I don't subscribe to or really much use any beyond those listed by Nadine. However, I have after googling certain OOP books, especially older series, found various links such as Open Library. None have required me to subscribe or join in order to read the particularly book, usually in PDF type format.

Gemma wrote: "Sunshine has finally arrived, hurrah! And I'm going to be seeing my parents this weekend for the first time since last August, so I'm looking forward to that!"
That sounds great! Have fun!

"Didn't manage to check in last week (basically, I forgot!), so have several books to log this week."
Well we're glad you're here this week! 😊

"Finished:
Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously for A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality. I really wanted to like this, as I really like the film, but I ended up just finding Julie irritating..."
I read this before joining Goodreads, so quite awhile back. I found it rather enjoyable, as I recall! 🙂

"The Bookshop on the Corner for A book where the main character works at your current or dream job. Quite cute, and it did make me want to start up a mobile bookshop!"
This is one I want to read!

"Just One Damned Thing After Another for A DNF book from your TBR list. I'm one of those people who doesn't have DNF books on their TBR list, so I utilised the listopia of books that other people have DNF'd, and this was the only on on my TBR list! I really enjoyed though, it was definitely a fun romp, and I've now put the second one in the series on my TBR list!"
How clever! Good for you!

"Started:
Edinburgh Twilight for A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover. I'm overachieving here, as this book has all four symbols on the cover!"
Had to laugh at that!

"QOTW:
I used to use Project Gutenberg quite a bit, for classics, but haven't for ages. I don't have Kindle Unlimited, but am planning to use my free trial to get hold of several books I have left on my challenge list! As a Prime member, I'm occasionally able to get hold of books through Prime Reading (the one I'm reading at the moment was free through that), but it's not often that books on my TBR list are available through that."
It's rather like shopping at a discount store. You never know what will or won't be in stock!

"The one other avenue I've found that I like (although again, haven't used for a while!) is the Serial Reader app. The basic version is free, it has lots of classics on it, and it delivers the book to you in small daily chunks. If you get the paid for version of the app (which isn't expensive, although I don't have it), I believe you can skip ahead on the installments without having to wait for one per day."
That's interesting. I believe I've heard someone describe that before. Don't think it would be good for me, but others may well enjoy it!

Hi, I missed last week since I was seeing my family for the first time since 2019 so I'll cover two weeks here.

Finished:

The House in the Cerulean Sea 3.5 stars
A Kind of Freedom 5 stars - heartbreaking but worth the read!
Brown Girl Dreaming 4 stars
The Whale Rider 4 stars
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times 3 stars
The Plot 4 stars
There There 5 stars - a reread - so good!
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race 5 stars
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century 5 stars - I learned so much from this!

I'm currently reading The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth and listening to Girl in Translation

QOTW: I'm so confused by this... is there another Lauren in this group? I know I didn't submit that question, so I don't get any of the credit for that. ;)

I haven't been reading ebooks as much lately, but I pretty much just get them from my library (Overdrive app).

Nothing finished since last week's check-in, but I did make a lot of progress on one of the books I'm reading while waiting to get my license renewed at the MVA today. I was there for about 2 hours after checking in for my appointment before my number was called 😑 At least I got this taken care of before the mid-August deadline, I'll get my new license in about a week, and I was able to take care of a couple of other errands beforehand while I was off work today.

I'm still at 15/40 and 2/10 for this challenge, and 32/100 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Finished:
* Nada

Currently Reading:
* Lady Joker, Volume One by Kaoru Takamura and translated by Marie Iida and Allison Markin Powell, which I think I'm going to use for "a book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021;" and,
* Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong, which I don't think fits any of my open prompts. Since my library hold came in, I went ahead and started it.

QotW:
This week's question is from Lauren:

What free or inexpensive subscription resources, besides Kindle Unlimited, Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, have you used or found to download and read ebooks? Especially classics or other books that are in the public domain or OOP?

Aside from Project Gutenburg and library ebook borrowing, I regularly use NetGalley, Prime Reading and the monthly First Reads (which are both part of my Prime membership, so does that count as free?), and Goodreads Giveaways. I occasionally get free ebooks via author newsletters and/or their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Some of the publisher and other bookish newsletters (Book Riot, Scene of the Crime, The Book Club Girls, BookBub, Early Bird Books, Bookperk, etc.) I receive also offer free ebooks from time to time.

Evening... no news here this week. Just a few more days till the post-vaccine 2 weeks is up and it's safe to start going out into the world again. Can't quite decide whether I want to go bookshopping in Stirling or Edinburgh first.

Yesterday I got a book subscription box delivered, first one I've ever tried. It's called "A Box of Stories", they buy up books that have never been read, haven't sold, and are going to be pulped, and send 4 of them out in each box. A totally random selection, you're very unlikely to get the same books as any other recipient. Essentially it's marketed as you're "rescuing" the books, which may have been what persuaded my overly sentimental self to subscribe.
I got The Traitor God, House of the Rising Sun, Shrouded Loyalties, and Sixteenth Watch. I was pretty happy with the selection - had only ever heard of one of them, wouldn't have been drawn to pick them up in a bookshop, but they do sound quite interesting. One of the authors is Scottish, which is cool, and another is nonbinary, so I might read their book as part of Pride Month.

Books finished this week:

The Warlow Experiment - Lockdown, it could be worse! This was alright for the day or so it took me to read it, but it was just... forgettable. Didn't care about any of the characters but one, and she got taken advantage of then horribly murdered, so... 🤷‍♀️

Get a Life, Chloe Brown - I liked most of this, it was pretty well written, lots of funny lines, the romance was mostly quite sweet and I liked both protagonists. Bit too explicit for me though. It almost ended up feeling like a trade-off. "Oh, they just had a lovely conversation by the campfire where they opened up to each other about their backstories, that's very sweet. Now I'm going to have to sit through the chapter-long descriptions of genitals and twenty bajillion uses of the word 'hot'. 😐😐😐 ... right, now that's over, how about those s'mores?"
Not sure if I'm too autistic for this, too sheltered, or possibly just ace.
Speaking of autistic, I adored Eve, Chloe's sister. I actually only read Chloe's book in the first place to have context for the latest one which stars Eve, 'cause autie heroine in a romance, yay hello! And she loves musicals too! I want to be her best friend!
... I've heard Eve's book is even steamier than Chloe's or Dani's, though, and I just don't know if I can be bothered with that. When it comes to romance in media, I'm all about the emotional side of the relationship, maybe with some cute hand-holding, cuddling, that sort of thing. Anything beyond kissing, meh. It's not that I'm prudish or anything, I just get bored.

The Ruin of Kings - Gawd. 700 pages! This was nooot worth it. It pretty much lost me around page 500, but by that point I thought might as well finish.
The whole book is basically an interminable series of "no Luke, I am your father" moments, to a parodic degree. After about the fourth or fifth one I seriously did not care.
Oh look, here's a plucky orphan whose adoptive family found him on a garbage heap. But wait, turns out the woman who raised him rescued him after watching his mother get murdered! But wait, turns out his father is actually the heir of a noble family and has been looking for him all this time! But wait, (view spoiler)[turns out his real father is the lord of that family, and the person who claimed to be his dad is his older brother. (hide spoiler)] But wait, turns out the woman who got murdered isn't his mother at all! His actual mother is Character X - but wait, she is actually Character Y whose soul wound up in Character X's body, because MAGIC! Also our protagonist might be kinda-sorta a reincarnation of a god!
And HOLY CRAP by this point I don't care! I have no idea who these characters are as people, I have no reason to like them or be invested, why would I give a rat patoot who their father or grandfather or great-great-ancestor secretly is?
I think there was a plot buried somewhere in there - as Samwise Gamgee would put it, "I heard a great deal about 8 magic stones, and demons, and somethin' about the end of the world". But I well and truly gave up trying to decipher it. I will leave the subsequent 4 doorstoppers in this series to an audience who is willing to put much more effort into them than I am.



Sooo, not the best ever reading week, I guess.

Next up I think I'll start Hidden Valley Road. One of the Booktubers I like, Kazen (of the channel Always Doing) talked about it in a recent vlog and praised it highly. However she also gave a lot of content warnings, so I'm going in ready for the possibility that I won't be able to handle it and may not get to the end.

QOTW: I don't use any ebook-borrowing services.

Lauren wrote: "QOTW: I'm so confused by this... is there another Lauren in this group? I know I didn't submit that question, so I don't get any of the credit for that. ;)..."


LOL! This mystery is lost to the sands of time at this point. I have no idea if a different Lauren submitted it, or if we just jotted down the wrong name.

Cendaquenta wrote: "Evening... no news here this week. Just a few more days till the post-vaccine 2 weeks is up and it's safe to start going out into the world again. Can't quite decide whether I want to go bookshoppi..."

Wow that's smart marketing to rescue books. I read House of the Rising Sun last year and gave it 2 stars. I read the author's one series years ago and this is the start to a spin off, which I didn't realize until I was a good chunk into the book. :) I can't remember my reasoning for my rating but that's probably a sign that it didn't stand out when I read a lot of urban fantasy. Hope you have fun trying new random books.

Gemma wrote: "Just One Damned Thing After Another for A DNF book from your TBR list. I'm one of those people who doesn't have DNF books on their TBR list, so I utilised the listopia of books that other people have DNF'd, and this was the only on on my TBR list! I really enjoyed though, it was definitely a fun romp, and I've now put the second one in the series on my TBR list! ..."


This is good to know! I've been meaning to read this book for a while now, and just never get around to it. I remember I got nervous when I saw it appear on the "DNF" list, but Christine (who had DNF'ed it) reassured me that it was a good book.