EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi all,

Sorry again for my disappearance, things continue to be hectic. I did finally manage a vacation the first weekend of December! We went to New York for a long weekend! Got to see a musical (Strange Loop) see some museums, go to the holiday market, see the Rockefeller tree, visit the Strand book store, wander through central park, it was a good trip. I even got to meet up with a FoE! So not all bad stuff, even if work has been hectic too. Also got solar panels put on the house, which some how made the mini split in the addition that hasn't worked since august start working again? But a repair guy is still coming next Tuesday to replace the circuit boards the finally came in, just in case. Since something is clearly still funky. And prepping to have family come visit for Christmas.

The last few weeks I finished:

The Sunbearer Trials - Finally finished this, it was good. I think i forgot to write up something in the thread, I'll need to do that.

my library joined a collective, and one of the libraries in it actually has all the InCryptid novels digitally. So my end of year reading is getting through the series.
Half-Off Ragnarok
Pocket Apocalypse
Chaos Choreography - i really liked this one, i love so you think you can dance, so it was extra fun seeing all the little references to the show. (and I'm super bummed about the tWitch news this week :( )
Magic for Nothing
Tricks for Free - i actually had to google to make sure there wasn't an extra theme park in Florida that I somehow hadnt' heard of or gone to, haha.

That Ain’t Witchcraft
A Psalm for the Wild-Built - audio re-read for my december book club that was tuesday. had a fun party, and white elephant book exchange.

Sparrow Hill Road - the library had let the liscense expire for Imaginary Numbers so i had to order that one physically. while i waited, I realized that Angel in the Overpass actually takes place right after That Ain't witchcraft, but I'd never actually read The Girl in the Green Silk Gown either. And it'd been long enough since i'd read this, might as well just re-read it while i was at it.

The Girl in the Green Silk Gown

Angel of the Overpass

Currently reading:

Imaginary Numbers - got my hold, yay.

QOTW:

Do you pay any attention to whether a book has won any awards when choosing books to read?

I don't really, unless i'm doing a reading challenge where it's specifically to read a book that won a specific award. I suppose winning awards is nice, but I read for enjoyment a lot of the time and award winning books aren't always ENJOYABLE. A lot of times they're stressful, or heartbreaking, or make you cry, or upset, or angry, etc. Depending on what they're winning awards for. And there's nothing wrong with just wanting to read fluff either. Fluff is fun. and even if i'm reading to challenge myself, I'm going to pick a book because it looks interesting or because something about it speaks to me, not because it won an award.

Happy Thursday! I'm off from work most of next week, and I couldn't be more ready for the staycation. We're planning to do all the holiday prep - but of course it's supposed to snow next week, so hopefully we can get everything done!

Glad you had a fun vacation, Sheri! I miss NYC. One of these days, I'm going to get back there. <3

I'm planning to do a catch-up on the InCryptid series myself next year. I crammed a bunch of them into PopSugar prompts. :)

Finished:
Well Traveled - 3.5 stars - I loved being back in the Renn Faire world of this romance series, but this book wasn't as good, IMO, as the first or third book in the series. Still fun, though.

Comics & manga:
Shuna's Journey
NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette

Currently reading:
A Million to One - I am just starting so I don't have an opinion yet. So far, it seems like it will be fun, though - an all-female crew planning a heist aboard the Titanic.

Planned:
There's a prompt for the longest book on my TBR next year, which is The Way of Kings. I'm planning to start it in late December so I can finish it in January. :)

QOTW:
The only awards I really pay much attention to are the Hugos. Otherwise I don't really care if a book won awards, unless I need to read a specific award winner for a challenge.

I had to work for two whole days this week! Four days next week, and then off until next year.

The Ends of the World: Supervolcanoes, Lethal Oceans, and the Search for Past Apocalypses - Thanks to... (searches posts) Susan for recommending this back in August. This was a very readable recap of mass extinctions in Earth's history, discussing their currently conjectured causes and implications for our future. Somehow I feel I understand more about the end-Permian from this one than from the entire book specifically about it that I read a while ago.

QOTW: I don't intentionally check awards or give them a lot of weight, but I'm sure there are some books that have only been on my radar because of awards discussions I've run into.

Thank you Sheri for posting this week as it was a crazy week for me and will be for the next couple. Our daughter got engaged and we're researching venues and it is so stressful and so much work. Add in the holidays and travel (during a storm it appears too) and I'm at my limit.

This past week I finished The Sunbearer Trials. I need to add to the post about it before I forget, but I also am not sure when I'll get to that. I will try to write up my thoughts.

I also finished Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage. There was a lot of content here and it is important for women to read about it.

I started reading a light fluffy book to take for our Christmas travels, The Party Crasher. I have never read Sophie Kinsella although I know she wrote the Shopaholic books. It is light and just want I need right now.

I also started listening to the next Old Man's War #5, The Human Division. Its structure is different than the others. Then I learned that it was an online serial for 4 months and then became a book. That explains it.

QOTW:
I am totally oblivious to awards. Just completely unaware. I do sometimes seek out or read through something like the NYT "Best Books of " where they give lists in various categories.

Last check-in I had just started The Boys by Katie Hafner. Mild spoiler (view spoiler)[Excellent use of an unreliable narrator on Hafner's part! (hide spoiler)]

I'm now a little more than halfway through A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. It's okay. It's funny, but some of the humor relies on ethnic stereotyping that I could do without. But I needed something fairly brainless, and this had been languishing on my kindle for a long time. Good enough for now!

QOTW: I don't really pay much attention to awards. I've read enough award winners that I didn't like at all that I've learned my taste doesn't always dovetail with awards judges...

Shel, I used to love Christopher Moore when I was younger but now I’m kinda finding him a bit…yeah. I had to DNF Noir when a character casually dropped the N word. I get it’s a period piece but there’s ways to get around that without actually using harmful language. Especially when it’s a humor book, not a history or even a serious historical fiction where maybe you could make some sort of argument for needing “authenticity”. That sort of goes out the window when you have talking snakes. Wondering if I went back and re read some of the stuff I liked when younger, how much I’d cringe now.