EPBOT Readers discussion

Hello everyone,

Last week got away from me again so this is another two week update. I hope everyone is doing well. Spring has nicely sprung in New England. This past week was the Boston Marathon and Patriot's Day.

In the last two weeks I only have one finish, Music Man. This was a fairly enjoyable read from the pile of free kindle romances I got around New Years.

I am still listening to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. This is a fairly long audiobook and I'm listening at 1.25 speed but it is taking me a while. I'm enjoying it still but my alone walking time to listen has been more limited lately.

I DNF'd another of them Rivers Between Us. I gave it to 25% and it was not engaging me. I'm being pretty aggressive with DNF'ing any of these free ones I just loaded without a lot of "do I really want to read this" filter. If I'm not feeling it, done.

I started a shorter one from the Amazon Improbably Meet-Cute collection. It is Royal Valentine. This is a short story so I should have it done quickly.

QOTW:
Do you snack while reading? If so, what is your favorite snack to eat while reading?

This is a short one for me because I don't snack while reading. I have two reading modes. I listen to audiobooks while on solo walks outside. Or I read books or my kindle in bed before I go to sleep. There are *very* rare occasions I'll sit outside in the summer on my patio and will read for a bit. When that happens mostly I'll just have a large cold glass of seltzer water.

So boring, I know!

We'll just say I'm glad tomorrow's Friday.

How to Count to One: And Don't Even Think About Bigger Numbers! - In this picture book, we are instructed to count only to one: for example, there may be five ducks pictured, but we must count only the one that is rollerblading. It was cute and will go on the nibling list for when they are old enough to count.

Passenger to Frankfurt - This was very bad and made me briefly consider abandoning my Agatha Christie completionist project. It's meandering and repetitive, which was also true of Elephants Can Remember, but that one was about the unreliability of memory, so it kind of worked. This one is about, uh, the disaffected youth of today (in 1970) being manipulated by shadowy puppet-masters to destroy society, I guess. There was a neo-Nazi element that seemed like it could be interesting but then wasn't really. There were a lot of short, choppy sentences that were maaaybe supposed to provide a suspenseful feel but would have been much better combined. Anyway it should at least be uphill from here.

Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains - This was for a new online book club which will be hosting a discussion with the author this weekend. I thought it was better than Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, but it's not entirely dissimilar. It referenced that book and several others I've already read as well. We'll see how the discussion goes.

QOTW: Well I read during my lunch break at work, so I guess statistically speaking my favorite reading snack is a sandwich. Otherwise I don't generally set out to snack and read.

Happy Friday!

Finished:
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden - 4 stars - for Popsugar's recommended by a bookseller prompt. This would also probably work for magical realism. This book was a bit of a slow burn but I wound up loving it. A powerful exploration of grief and trauma.

The Diablo's Curse by Gabe Cole Novoa - 4 stars - rearranged some books to put this in as my Popsugar fiction book by a trans author. A YA adventure story about a character with a family curse, and a former demon trying to help them break the curse by finding the lost treasure of Captain Kidd. I really enjoyed it.

Comics/manga:
Horimiya, Vol. 11
Horimiya, Vol. 12
Horimiya, Vol. 13
Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen Vol. 2

Currently reading:
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna - for either Popsugar's cozy fantasy or a book where someone sleeps for 24 hours. I've seen other people say it meets that second prompt, but I haven't read that scene yet, so I have a backup category just in case. So far I'm really enjoying this one.

Upcoming/Planned:
Lyorn by Steven Brust - not for a challenge (yet).

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier - not for a challenge (yet).

QOTW:
Like Rebecca, I read on my lunch break at work every day, but I don't set out to snack specifically while reading. When it's cold, I like having a warm drink while reading in the evenings, but that's about it. :)

I just got home very, very early this morning from a week in Arizona for our spring break - we took the red-eye flight home, which I hate but is so much more affordable than the daytime flight.

I loaded up my kindle with a bunch of books so I wouldn't run out of reading material, but I ended up not having a ton of time to read, busy spending time with family and a few days up at the Grand Canyon (which was spectacular). I did finish The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer, which was on the library's "available now" shelf when I was downloading books to bring. I enjoy a true crime book and this was a good one. I'd not been familiar with Dr. Cream.

I'm about 80% through Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the first in his ten-book Shadows of the Apt series. It's been a while since I dove into a monster epic fantasy series and I'm excited to see where this one goes. So far, it's as excellent as I expect from Tchaikovsky (this was a very early novel of his but it's just as good as the recent ones).

QOTW: Sometimes? I don't make a habit out of needing a snack while I read, but I sometimes read over a meal or will grab something to munch on if I happen to be hungry. More often I'll read with a mug of tea handy.