EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi All,

Been a bit of a stressful week, my cat had to have surgery to remove a suspicious lump. Biopsy had returned a few possibly cancerous cells so we were removing it as precaution, it's being sent away for analysis. So he's got a funny hair cut and far too many stitches for a little guy. He's recovering well though and has a lot of energy, it's a challenge to get him to not leap and bound too much.

This week I finished:

Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey, Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones - these were so charming! I am doing read harder so these were my completed web comic. I loved them so much.

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself - I picked this randomly from the library because the title was so interesting. It was a very strange slow burn dystopia, with a very queer perspective. I liked it quite a bit.

The Cloisters - audio book read - this was just ok for me. Sort of mean girls meets the DaVinci Code. The atmosphere was really nice, but the characters felt pretty flat and I found the plot pretty predictable.

The Sentence - this was a bummer for me. I really loved the first part of it, where the set up was a haunted book store. then suddenly it nose dove into 2020, and was all the fear and uncertainty, and then all the protests, police violence, isolation, strain from being cooped up together. It just felt like a bait-and-switch. I re-read the back blurb and it was phrased "set from all hallows eve 2019 through the following all hallows eve". which did not immediately register as "oh this is going to be a 2020 book". It just felt disingenuous, I get some authors want to tell those stories. but put it out there, that this is what the book is about so readers can decide if that is what they want to read. This was a book club book so I probably would have read it anyhow, but I would have at least gone in braced, not suddenly slapped in the face with it in the middle of what I thought was just a ghost story. Honestly it felt like the author was writing one book, then 2020 happened, and rather than starting over with a new book to write out her feelings, she just re-directed them into what she was currently writing. and it just didn't work for me. It felt like the ghost story because a total afterthought and b the time it was resolved it was just like "..oh. ok." it took what might have been a 5 star book to just a 3 for me.

Currently reading:

I'm Glad My Mom Died - i'd had this on hold for a bit, not really familiar with Jeanette McCurdy but everyone kept talking about the book.

Backpacking Through Bedlam - Requested this from my library on a whim and they bought it the same day, woo!


QOTW:
What fictional school from books would you like to attend?

I'm not sure if I can think of any off hand. A lot of them seem to have a lot of down sides, like being pretty deadly, full of bad teachers, or not really kind to those who aren't top of the class.

Aw, I hope your kitty gets better soon, Sheri.

I don't have too much to report this week.

Finished:
The Wicked Bargain - 4.5 stars - for the Popsugar prompt of a book that features two languages. This was so much fun. Queer pirates and deals with devils.

Currently reading:
Ariadne - I'm just starting this, but so far I'm enjoying the writing style.

Planned:
The Mimicking of Known Successes
The Unhoneymooners

QOTW:
I agree with you, Sheri - most of the fictional schools I can think of have issues that would not want any part of. The only one I can think of was when I was really into Misty Lackey's books as a teen, I used to want to go to the collegium (sp?) where the Heralds and other gifted people trained. But then, they're basically training you for a position where you might have to risk your life at any moment in service of the kingdom, so...

Yeah, the Heralds rarely lived peaceful lives! I liked reading about them, not sure i really want to LIVE that life. Even if I got a telepathically bonded horse out of it.

Sheri I hope your cat recovers well and the full biopsy news is good.

Last week I finished The Memory Keeper of Kyiv for neighborhood book club this month. I liked it better than I expected. I learned a lot from it as I didn't know about the Stalin manmade starvation of 4-10 million Ukranians. Although there's no good way to read about it, the author does not dwell on gory details. It is an historical fiction book. I enjoyed the present-day half as well since it was a reprieve from the difficult times and I knew that she survived. There were parts I wish the author had dived into more and other parts less. But if you want a book about Ukraine this is a compelling one.

I'm also reading I Wouldn't Do That If I Were Me: Modern Blunders and Modest Triumphs. I read a humor essay or two whenever the mood moves me.

I'm still listening to The End of All Things. This will wrap up the Old Man's War series. This one is a long one. I'm on Ch 5 of 16 and each chapter is 45-60 minutes long.

Today I just picked up Recursion: A Novel from the library. I haven't opened it yet, but it sounds very interesting. I think someone here recommended it and that's how it got onto my TBR list. But I'm not sure.

QOTW:
I don't really remember any schools other than Hogwarts. Most books I read do not have schools in them. I guess one that stands out in my mind would be that I'd love to be in Ms. Frizzle's class from the Magic School Bus. Ms. Frizzle is in my tribe with her fun and crazy outfits.

Only one finish for me this week, too.

The Empty Birdcage - This is the final (so far) entry in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Mycroft Holmes series. Reviewers don't seem to have liked it as much, but a. I was reminded of the series when I saw him in Glass Onion and b. we just got a couple of budgies, so the title seemed apt. It did feel like the authors had to rush the endings of both independent plots they crammed into the book, but I don't think it's a spoiler to say that although the title doesn't become relevant until over halfway into the book, there is a budgie involved, so it was a good call thematically.

QOTW: Ooh, Magic School Bus is a good thought, but it might be too scary for me, although no one ever seems to actually get hurt. Wayside School seems similarly potentially unpleasant. All the SFF ones, as previously noted, tend to be downright perilous. I did just finish a book about a school for the deaf that seemed pretty nice, but I am not deaf, and part of the plot is that (view spoiler)[it's slated for closure (hide spoiler)]. I'm sure I've read plenty of normal schools (like Ramona or Encyclopedia Brown or whatever), but that's not a very interesting answer.

Sheri, thinking good thoughts for your cat.

Susan, it was probably me who recommended Recursion: A Novel! I loved it so much!

Two finishes for me last week: Exit Strategy, the fourth Murderbot book, and Legends & Lattes. The latter was such a cozy warm hug of a book! I used it for the Coffee or Tea? prompt, of course.

I've just started a re-read of Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay, since my other GR group is reading it this month. When I'm done with that I have The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches lined up to read next based on Susan's recommendation :)

QOTW: The Heralds' Collegium is tempting in some ways, but like y'all already pointed out, I'm not sure I'm up for the lifetime of risking my skin to protect the land, telepathic horse notwithstanding. I'm musically inclined, so perhaps I'd be happy in the Bardic Collegium? The other one that comes to mind is Starfleet Academy. It seems so utopian in a lot of ways!

Susan, if it wasn't Shel, it was probably me - Recursion: A Novel blew my mind right out of the gate! I'm still not sure I'll find anything that will measure up to my first read of 2023 :)

Just one finish for me this week: Children of Blood and Bone. Does it sew together a bunch of YA tropes? Sure, but that doesn't mean the ride isn't enjoyable. The narrator of the audiobook has a lovely voice, too. I fit it in the Book Nerds "author whose name does not include N S or C" prompt. 17/100.

QOTW: I often read horror/thriller types, so I probably don't want to attend school in those universes! Although, Seanan McGuire's School for Wayward Children has its moments, even though most of them don't involve the school.

I guess my final answer is that Kathy Reichs' Tempe Brennan also teaches at McGill University, where I was, in fact, a student!